Midnight
by TheDanni0608
Summary: The Doctor and River find themsleves stuck on the Crusader, on a planet called Midnight... But there's something out there..Waiting..   Like the episode Midnight just with the Eleventh Doctor instead, extra dialouge and different scenes. Enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors note:**** Hey guys! Just to inform you, this fic is simply the episode 'Midnight', but with the Eleventh Doctor instead. Donna isn't involved, sorry guys, but River, Rory and Amy are. I will stick to the actual episode as close as I can. However, both Eleven and Ten would react differently to some things, meaning I may have to change simple things, plus, River is on-board The Crusader aswell, meaning different dialogue and stuff. There may be 'extra scenes' that I add in there. =) So I hope you enjoy.**

Midnight, such a beautiful planet. A resort, which was in the shape of a ring, consisting of glass domes inside of it, was placed exactly in the middle of the planet, and was surrounded by diamonds. The blinding light would bounce off the diamonds and twinkle, making it look like there were thousands of tiny little stars, creating beautiful scenery.

Inside, both Amy and Rory were relaxing. They were both wearing white robes, making Amy's hair stand out even more, and some white fluffy slippers to go with it. The room they were inside was absolutely stunning. Light shining from above was reflecting off the swimming pool, creating an almost shine to the room. Rory had fallen asleep, with his face mask still on, Amy still can't believe she managed to persuade him to wear one. Amy smiles at him and closes her eyes, leaning her head back on the chair for full relaxation. After all, there was peace, quietness, champagne to her left, and her husband to her right; you can't really blame her for relaxing. It's definitely different compared to other adventures, even if it was The Doctor's idea to come here in the first place. She sighs slowly in relief. She hears footsteps coming her way; she opens one eye, too relaxed to open the other. A waiter, wearing black trousers and a white shirt, he did look very 'posh' in a way, walks over to her. His left hand holding up a blue object, curious, Amy props up on her chair and looks at the man. He bent over to her, revealing the object.

"A phone call for you Madame," he informs her, placing the blue object to her waist. She looks at the phone confused for a few seconds, who would call her here, then realises it could only be one person.

"Hello Doctor," she greets him warmly, placing the phone to her ear. The butler walks away, giving her privacy. She can literally hear the smile on the other end of the phone.

"Hello Pond, you sure you don't want to come?" He asks again, for the twenty second time that day.

"I said no." She states firmly, yet she still smiles at his determination. Trust him. She hears a sigh across the phone,

"Oh, come on Pond! Sapphire waterfall, it's a waterfall made-of-sapphire. Isn't that brilliant?" He says excitedly, jumping up and down slightly. Amy gives a cheeky grin.

"This enormous jewel, the size of a glacier, reaches the Cliff of Oblivion and then shatters into sapphire at the edge, then falls one hundred thousand feet into the crystal ravine." He tries again to persuade her with his intellectual facts.

"Oh, I can see why River wanted to come now. You know what, can she stay with you, I've changed my mind. Sapphires and River just don't-"

"She's a good girl," Amy reminds him, interrupting his sentence. The Doctor laughs at her words, because quite frankly she's the opposite. Not wanting to start an argument, over the phone, he decides to get back to the real reason he called her.

"Oh, come one. They're boarding now," he pleads, now looking over his shoulder, to see a group of people, making their way into the shuttle-like vehicle. The station looks very similar to a sub-station you would find on Earth; 21st Century anyway, it was just _alot_ cleaner.

"I don't want to be stuck on my own with River Song, she's easily influential, she could influence me into anything... Oh, come on, four hours, that's all it'll take," he begs, flailing his arms around frustrated, which accidentally grabs River's attention. She is on the other side of the platform, sorting out her carrier's bag. The Doctor asked what she would _possibly_ need on a cruise around Midnight, in a carrier's vehicle. As usual she just replies with her usual catchphrase, 'spoilers'.

"Doctor that's four hours there and four hours back, with you. I think I'll pass. Anyway, I'd rather be sunbathing, seeming we never did go to Space Florida," She reasons with him, making sure he could pester her no further. He huffs,

"Fine, fine. Just be careful, that's extonic sunlight," he warns her, making a serious face over the phone.

"Oh, I'll be fine. Says in the brochure this glass is fifteen feet thick. So stop worrying about me and go on your date with River." She demands him in a soft tone.

"It's not a date!" He exclaims, flailing his hands again. Only did he not notice River was now exactly behind him, she pouts,

"Oh, really, shame. Would have been a nice date," she says cheekily in a sarcastic tone. The Doctor turns to the phone,

"Amy, look what you've done," he cries accusingly, making his eyebrows, if he has any, rise up his brow _so far_ that they may come off his face. River shakes her head and takes the phone off him, much to The Doctor whining, River just places her finger to his lips, shutting him up.

"Hi mother, and don't worry, we'll be back for dinner," she asserts her. Amy nods her head, then realises that she wouldn't hear that so she says,

"Okay." She can hear the Doctor in the background,

"When we're back, we can try that antigravity restaurant, with bibs." He shouts over the phone so Amy can hear. Amy laughs, and then takes a sip of the champagne, that was placed on the glass table next to her.

"See you in a few hours then. And behave," she warns them both. The Doctor then snatches the phone back and replies to Amy,

"Ah, don't worry about us. We're on a space truck with million strangers across the diamond planet Midnight- What could possible go wrong?" He jokes, Amy rolls her eyes and with that joke hung in the air she ends the call. Finally, after all that hassle, she can truly relax…

Ten Minutes Later….

Once on board The Doctor rushes to get some seats.

"Doctor, don't worry, the seats won't fly away." River reassures him, apologising to the strangers his roughly budged past. He plonks himself down on a seat, jumping on it slightly to check if it's _'comfy'_ enough. River shakes her head at him and places a hand on his chest.

"Sweetie, there's nothing wrong with this seat, you've been moving about the place for ten minutes now. We're staying here." And with that she sits next to him in a huff and places her carrier bag under her seat. The air hostess starts to give the complimentary objects to the passengers. She walks over to the woman at the front,

"Complimentary juice pack and complimentary.."

"Just the headphones, please," the blonde woman informs her, politely taking the headphones off her and plugging them in to the device. The woman walks over to River and The Doctor, giving them both packets of food and drink.

"That's the headphones for Channels 1 to 36, modem link for 3D vidgames, complimentary earplugs, complimentary slipper, complimentary juice pack, and complimentary peanuts." She lists the items, piling them on top of him; he just looks at her as if to say _'Anything else?'_

"I must warn you some products may contain nuts." She states finally, the Doctor bursts out laughing, then realises he was the only one laughing.

"Complimentary peanuts; some may contain nuts?" He points out, looking at the woman with an innocent face. "It's funny." River chuckles to herself quietly, enjoying his awkwardness.

"Enjoy your trip." The air hostess says roughly, yet with a false smile.

"Oh, I can't wait! Geronimo," he replies excitedly, smiling to himself.

"I'm sorry?" The woman asks with a confusing face.

"Oh, it's an English word. Used to express exhilaration," he explains with a smile. The woman smiles back and walks over to other passengers, giving them their complimentary treats. As soon as she was out of sight River starts laughing out loud. The Doctor turns to her feeling patronised, and taps her on the nose. He can hear an elder man talking behind them while taking their seats. The elder man was accompanied with a girl. Brown hair, round glasses, young, looks to be the odd couple. However, you can never judge on looks, the Doctor learnt that the harder way. He once asked a 'man' how he was doing, just being polite, when it turned out to be a woman! He can still feel the smack now.

"They call it the sapphire waterfall, but it's no such thing." The man states, while sitting down on the seat closest to the window, no doubt to get a better view.

"Sapphire's an aluminium oxide, but the glacier is just a compound silicon with iron pigmentation." He explains, laughing hoarsely. The Doctor turns away from the man for a second, to look at the other passengers in the ship. A man and woman are not far behind them, probably husband and wife, guessing from their interactions with one another. His attention goes back to the people behind. The man's talking about pills, his probably got travel sickness; trust River to make him stay in the seat in front of him… River turns around and greets herself to the older man, shaking his hand.

"Hobbes. Professor Winfold Hobbes," he announces kindly to her. The Doctor rolls his eyes, not a _professor_ for god's sake.

"Doctor River Song and this is The Doctor," she replies back, pointing to the timelord. The Doctor smiles and gives a little wave,

"Hello."

"It's my fourteenth time," Hobbes confesses while shaking the Doctors hand. The Doctor looks at him impressed.

"Oh, it's my, or _**our**_ should I say, first time." He admits, smiling at the man. The younger woman pops out from nowhere, all pearly white teeth and good enthusiasm.

"And I'm Dee Dee. Dee Dee Blasco," she says quickly, trying not to feel left out. Hobbes narrows his eyes at her.

"Don't bother the man." He orders her firmly. "Where's my water bottle?" He asks as they sit back down. The Doctor and River look at each other and shrug their shoulders. He notices the woman at the front is staring at him, he simply smiles and she turns her head back to her book. How nice of her? River turns around to hear a woman rambling to her, what she thought, was her son.

"Don't be silly. Come and sit with us. Look, we get slippers." River laughs, how awkward parents can be right? The man looks over at his son,

"Jethro, do what your mother says." He says in an almost angry voice. The boy, well not really a boy, more so a teenager, shakes his head.

"I'm sitting here." He concludes, not making any sign of movement. He had black hair, which covered his eyes very slightly, and wore black clothing. River remembers somebody like him in her secondary school.

"Oh, he's ashamed of us, but he doesn't mind us paying, does he?" The man retaliates, quite hurt. The Doctor, who had also been listening in, poked River in the belly, making her fall back into her seat.

"Stop ear wigging," he whispers to her, smiling, because he knows full well he is to.

"I hate you," she whispers back, trying to look insulted or offended in some way, which fails. He pokes her arm,

"No you don't," he mumbles, looking into her eyes. She smiles at him and was about to answer back but was interrupted by the air hostess.

"Ladies and gentlemen and variations thereupon," she announces striding down the middle of the ship. "Welcome on board the Crusader fifty."

She reaches the front of the ship, so as she can talk to everyone at once,

"If you would fasten your seatbelts," the woman instructs. River laughs quietly at the gesture, making the Doctor elbow her in the stomach playfully.

"We'll be leaving any moment." The woman finishes. All the passengers buckle their seatbelts as told, even River, who hates seat belts, or anything that prevents danger. The air hostess looks over,

"Doors." She simply says, leaving the doors to just shut functionally, like magic. "Shields down." The ship makes a beeping sound as the shield go down as ordered.

"I'm afraid the view is shielded until we reach the Waterfall Palace." She informs the passengers. "Also, a reminder. Midnight had no air, so please don't touch the exterior door seals."

"So much for exploring round the place," the Doctor mutters under his breath disappointed.

"Fire exit at the rear and should we need to use it, you first." The woman says almost as if it were forced out of her mouth. River moves to the Doctors ear, close enough he can feel her breath on him.

"Yeah right, I'm sure if there were to be any crash, they'd be the first to run through the fire exit." She whispers, leaving the Doctor laugh through his nose. The air hostess looks at her watch on her wrist,

"Now I will hand you over to Driver Joe," She finishes.

"Driver Joe at the wheel. There's been a diamond fall at the Winter With Canyon, so we'll be taking a slight detour, as you'll see on the map." The man on the radio addresses. The map at the very front of the ship shows the new directions.

"The journey covers five hundred kilks to the multifaceted coast. Duration is estimated at four hours. Thank you for travelling with us and, as they used to say in the olden days, 'Wagons roll.'" The ship then starts to rumble, shaking a bit as they set off.

"For your entertainment, we have the music channel playing retrovids of Earth classics." The air hostess says, clicking a button on the remote, turning on the TV screens, which appear from the ceiling.

"Also, the latest artistic installation from Ludovic Klein," she adds clicking the button on the remote again. A light from the corner of the ship shines, showing the instillation.

"Plus, for the youngsters, a rare treat. The animation archives." Then she pulled down a projection screen, showing cartoons, even though there were no children in the ship, although, the Doctor _did_ find it very entertaining.

"Four hours of fun time. Enjoy." Then the woman walks off towards the back off the ship. All the music, animating and the art exhibition blare at the same time, four hours of this would cause a massive migraine. River places her hands to her temples, already getting a headache. The Doctor could just tell by the others passengers expressions that they were not enjoying this 'entertainment' either. The woman at the front of the ship looked at the Doctor, her eyes pleading with help. River leans over to The Doctor again and mumbles,

"Use the sonic for crying out loud." Normally the Doctor would have said something like 'if you ask nicely', but right now, he just wants the music to stop. He secretly gets out his sonic and sonics the machinery. Automatically, the music stops and the lights are no longer flashing, the blonde woman looks at him suspiciously but doesn't say anything.

"Well, that's a mercy," Professor Hobbes says out loud in relief, smiling. The air hostess walks down the aisle again,

"Uh, I do apologise, ladies and gentlemen and variations thereupon. We seem to have had a failure of the entertainment system."

"Oh," The Doctor bawled sarcastically.

"Well, what do we do?" The blonde parent, who is sitting at the back, asks.

"We've got four hours of this? Four hours of just sitting here?" The man next to her complains, his legs crossed as he sits. The Doctor thinks of an idea, he jumps up from his chair to look at everyone, a big grin on his face.

"Tell you what. We'll have to talk to each other instead," he insists…..

Ninety Eight Kliks later.

They're all laughing, the husband and wife in tears telling their story.

"So Biff said, 'I'm going swimming.'" The woman says, inbetween deep breaths to control herself.

"Oh, I was all ready. Trunks and everything. Noseplug." The husband points to his wife, who giggles again. River laughs along with the woman, her laugh was contagious.

"He had this little noseplug. You should have seen him." The Doctor stares at the couple intrigued by their story, smiling himself along the way.

"And I went marching up to the lifeguard, and he was a Shamboni, you know, with those big foreheads." The man carries on, pointing to his forehead while he explains the story. "And I said, 'Where's the pool?' And he said, 'The pool is abstract.'" He finishes off laughing. Both Dee Dee and Professor Hobbes were in hysterics. River looks over at their son, who looks bored out of his mind; it appears he's heard this story before. She walks over to him, and asks if she can sit next to him. He looks at her up and down, and he soon sits up properly and takes his headphones out. Bless.

"S-Sure," he stutters, clearing the seat of rubbish and objects, River sits down.

"Take it you've heard this all before? Parents right. Can be so embarrassing," she admits, looking over at his parents.

"It wasn't a real pool!" She hears the woman yell.

"It was a concept," her husband adds. She looks at the Doctor, who seems to enjoy this little story.

"And you were wearing a noseplug?" He asks, squishing his nose with his fingers to imitate the object. They nod; they don't have the oxygen to answer properly, laughing too hard.

"Nose plugs are cool," The Doctor states, turning to River. She shakes her head immediately,

"No. The answer is no. Definitely not. I'll shoot it off you if you even dare pick one up, understand." She jokes, but the Doctor can't really tell if she's being serious. After all, look at what happened to the Stetson and fez. River puts her attention back to Jethro.

"So are you two married or a couple or just friends or something?" He asks shyly, pointing to the Doctor with his head. River sighs and smiles at the same time.

"You'd have to ask him that." She confirms, winking at him…

One hundred and fifty kliks later….

"I'm just a second year student, but I wrote a paper on the lost moon of Poosh. Professor Hobbes read it, liked it, took me on as researcher, just for the holidays." Dee Dee explains to River and The Doctor, while handing them drinks made from the coffee machine. River was very interested, The Doctor could tell, her eyes never leaving Dee Dee as she talked of University and being with a professor. Of course, The Doctor knew she wanted to be a professor herself, in fact, he's even met her as a professor.

"Well he says researcher, but most of the time he's got me fetching and carrying, but it's all good experience," She confesses while making her own coffee. River holds onto her arm fragilely, looking her directly in the eye.

"Don't ever let anyone order you round Dee Dee, it's your life, your decisions," she suggests in a calm voice, yet getting the message across. She nods in response. The Doctor interrupts their moment, fiddling with his bowtie as he talks.

"And did they ever find it?" He asks.

"Find what?" Dee Dee replies with a confused face.

"The lost moon of Poosh," he enunciates, rocking on his heels slightly. Dee Dee laughs in response,

"No, not yet."

"Well, maybe that'll be your great discovery one day," he lies, knowing full well that it's him and Donna that find the missing planet on the Medusa Cascade, along with the other twelve planets. He smiles and raises his cup of coffee,

"Here's to Poosh." River and Dee Dee clank their cups together with his.

"To Poosh," they say in unison.

Two hundred and nine kliks later…

"No, no. I'm with a… She's urm.." The Doctor scratches his cheek nervously. The blonde woman looks up at him with a smirk.

"Doctor River Song, am I'm not correct," she says, while taking a mouthful of food. The Doctor looks at her with a puzzled face.

"She talked to me earlier, lovely young woman. Very nice, easy to get on with, and that's saying something with me," she admits. The Doctor puts some food into his mouth.

"What about you, you travelling with anyone?" He asks innocently, trying to avoid the subject on River Song. He can just guarantee that she would be listening in, even if she is talking to the couple at the back of the ship.

"No. It's just me." She replies vaguely, no sign of sadness to her face.

"Oh, I've done plenty of that, travelling on my own. I love it. Do what you want, go anywhere." He lies, of course he's lying. He hates travelling alone, his only saying it to comfort the woman.

"I'm still getting used to it," she confesses. "I've found myself single rather recently, not by choice." She adds on, unwrapping a napkin at the same time.

"What happened?" He questions, feeling quite sad for her, she may not be everyone's cup of tea, but she definitely doesn't deserve to be alone. Nobody does.

"Oh, the usual. She needed her own space, as they say. A different galaxy, in fact. I reckon that's enough space, don't you?" She remarks, wiping her mouth with the napkin.

"I'm not really the one to give advice on relationships," he jokes back nervously, pulling at his collar awkwardly. The woman chuckles,

"Are you not with that woman?" She replies with a question. The Doctor gulps.

"We're sort of married," he confesses. The woman raises her eyebrow, "it's a long story." The woman laughs again, and looks at the box in her lap. Inside was her main course meal.

"So what's this then? Chicken or beef?" She asks curiously, looking at the meat strangely. The Doctor takes some in his fork, from his own box, and shoves it in his mouth. He nods, approving of the taste.

"Bit of both," he states.

Two hundred and fifty one kliks later….

"So this is Midnight. Do you see? Bombarded by the sun," Professor Hobbes demonstrates to the whole ship, pointing to the graph and symbols on the projection screen.

"Extonic ray, raw galvanic radiation. Dee Dee next slide," he orders. River looks at Dee Dee, trying to remind her of what she said earlier. She shrugs her shoulder and clicks a button on the control, moving the slideshow on.

"It's my pet project. Actually, I'm the first person to research this because, you see," he sits down on the chair, "the history is fascinating because there is no history." He states matter of factly. "There is no life in this entire system. There couldn't be. Before the Leisure Palace Company moved in, no one had come here in all eternity. No-living-thing." He rambles on. River sits there gobsmacked by this information. She looks at The Doctor, who is also intrigued by his presentation.

"But how do you know? I mean, if no one can go outside…" Jethro question the inevitable. His mum sighs,

"Oh, his imagination. Here we go." She complains as if it happens all the time. River looks at the woman annoyingly,

"He's got a point, though." She backs up his opinion. The Doctor nodded in agreement.

"Exactly!" Mr Hobbes exclaims, raising his finger in the air. "We look upon this world through glass, safe inside our metal box. Even the Leisure Palace was lowered down from orbit. And here we are now, crossing Midnight, but never touching it." As soon as he stops speaking the ship starts to bang and rattle, the lights flickering on and off.

"We've stopped," the wife points out obviously, looking around the room nervously. Suddenly all the passengers, even the Doctor, seem a bit freaked out.

"Have we stopped?" The woman speaks again. Biff, her husband, stands up from his chair.

"Are we there?"

"We can't be. It's too soon." Dee Dee acknowledges, pulling up her glasses from falling down her nose.

"No, they don't stop. Crusader vehicles never stop." Mr Hobbes, informs them, disagreeing with the situation. The air hostess walks over to the middle of the ship,

"If you could just return to your seats, it's just a small delay." She tells them, walking to the telephone at the end of the ship. The passengers all look at each other, quite scared.

"Maybe it's just a pit stop," Jeff suggests, sitting down in his chair.

"There's no pit to stop in. I've been on this expedition fourteen times. They never stop," he reassures everyone. River was staring to get annoyed with him denying the truth; she was going to say something before Skye interrupted.

"Well, evidently we have stopped, so there's no point in denying it." She remarks sharply, making the professor shut up. River smiles at the woman, she was going to say near enough the exact same. Jethro laughs, finding this all funny,

"We've broken down."

"Thanks Jethro," his mum says sarcastically. He turns to his mum smiling,

"In the middle of nowhere."

"That's enough. Now stop it," Jeff warns Jethro, holding on to his wife's hand. The air hostess walks in on their conversation.

"Ladies and gentlemen and variations thereupon, we're just experiencing a short delay. The driver needs to stabilise the engine feeds. It's perfectly routine, so if you could just stay in your seats…" The Doctor looks at her with a puzzles face. He gets up from his seat and walks to the front door, where the pilots are. The air hostess block his way,

"No, I'm sorry,sir,I…" She objects. He flashes the psychic paper at her quickly,

"There you go. Engine expert. Two ticks," he says before she could speak. River rises from her chair, ready to follow him.

"Madame if you could just.."

"Where ever he goes_ I_ go," she informs her, pushing her to the side. The Doctor proceeds to walk into the room, with River Song behind.

"Sorry, if you could just sit down… You're not supposed to be in there!" The air hostess yells at them, they take no notice and enter the room. The room is lit up from the random coloured button on the walls and ceilings. There are two men at the front, obviously the pilots, the one turns around on his wheelie chair.

"Sorry. If you could just return to your seats, sir and madame," he proposes, pointing to the door. The Doctor flashes his psychic paper at the man,

"Company insurance. I'm The Doctor and this is Doctor River Song." He informs then, the second man gazes at River, liking what he's seeing. The Doctor furrows his eyebrows,

"Right, let's see if we can get an early assessment. So what's the problem, Driver Joe?" He says quickly, trying to get the man's attention away from River.

"We're stabilising the engine feeds. Won't take long," he confirms, while pressing some buttons. River and The Doctor looks at the scanner,

"Um, no, because that's the engine feed, that line there, and it's fine," he informs them. "And it's a micropetrol engine, so stabilising doesn't make sense, does it?" He asks, looking around the room, tying to see what cause the stop.

"Sorry, he tends to do that a lot," River says, pushing The Doctor so as she can take a look to, "he's very clever, so what's wrong?"

"We've just stopped. Look, all the systems fine." The second man replies, looking rather worried. "Everything's working, but we're not moving." The Doctor retrieves his sonic and sonics the buttons and scanners,

"Yeah, you're right." He agrees, looking at the sonic's results. "No faults. And who are you?" The Doctor asks the second man. He looks up at River,

"Claude. I'm the mechanic," he admits, smiling at her, she smiles back half-heartedly.

"Trainee?" The Doctor asks. He just wants to make him seem less impressive to River, if his being honest.

"First day," the man replies quietly.

"Nice to meet you," he says with a smile.

I'm going to stop there folks, hopefully that wasn't too dull, but if you've seen the episode, you'll know it gets better. =) Please review so as I know if I've taken the episode in my own sort of way, and if I'm doing it alright. Took a while to write, but oh well. It's fun!


	2. Chapter 2

I had some very good nice feedback from you guys so thank you. Obviously it's 'hopefully' going to get better due to the episode finally kicking in. So here's chapter 2.

"I've sent a distress signal," Driver Joe assures, pressing some more buttons. "They should dispatch a rescue truck, top speed."

"How long until they get here?" River asks, leaning her elbow on the driver's seat, the last thing she wants is to be stuck on a ship for hours on end.

"About an hour," the man replies with a sigh. The Doctor turned quite bored, now that there's nothing much to discuss, so he thinks of an idiotic, crazy idea.

"Well, since we're waiting, should we take a look outside? Can't resist resist-y things," he stated smiling at the two pilots, who looks back at him with a 'you're totally insane' type face. River rolls her eyes,

"You can't be serious," said cautiously, placing her hand on her hip.

"Ah," he exclaims, jumping driver Joe, he turns round to point at River. "I'd thought you would have learnt by now River," he accuses while smiling at her, "Rule twenty seven and four hundred and eight." Is all he says, bopping her in the nose with his finger. He looks back at driver Joe, who seems completely baffled by this psychotic man.

"Lift the screen a bit." The Doctor suggests to him. Joe looks at Claude for help; looking at him pleadingly.

"It's one hundred per cent extonic out there. We'd be vaporised," Joe panics, debating with the Doctor.

"You can't be serious. It'd be stupidly dangerous to open them," he adds on with false laughs. River rolls her eyes, _'he just had to say that didn't he?'_ She thought to herself.

"Stupidly dangerous is my middle name," he replies back with high enthusiasm. "Anyway, never knowingly be serious, right River," he turns to look at her, but she just rolls her eyes again. He turns back to driver Joe,

"Anyway, those windows are Finitoglass. They'll give you a couple of minutes. C'mon," he says shaking their chairs,

"Live the excitement!" he says with a smirk. Driver Joe just laughs hoarsely, and nods his head- a sign of defeat and nervously presses down a button. The metal around the window slides up, revealing a blinding light. The view was tremendous. Crystals, the size of skyscrapers towering the ship, making them feel belittled and unsecure in their tiny little whimsy ship.

"It's beautiful," River comments, looking at the scenery with awe, the Doctor takes hold of her hand, squeezing it slightly. Pilot Joe's jaw was dropped and Claude's eyes were open to the maximum, obviously neither of them had seen amazing sceneries before.

"Look at all those diamonds, poisoned by the sun, no one can ever touch them," he informs with astonishment, his voice falters when he says he can't touch them, they were so stunning, they would hypnotise anybody.

"Joe, you said we took a detour," The Doctor mutters, still looking through the window. Joe doesn't even bother to turn around to look at him, he is also hypnotised by this beauty.

"Just about forty clicks to the west," he assures with a chuckle.

"Is that a recognised path?" River asks worriedly, knowing why the Doctor's face faltered. Joe shakes his head,

"No, it's a new one. The computer worked it out on automatic," he replies with a sly grin. River looks away from the view; somehow it unnerves her, like she's being watched. She hears the Doctor behind her,

"So we're the first," he acknowledges with an impressed tone, clapping his hands together in delight. He turns to look at River with a smile, but then realises she isn't looking and is sitting down against the wall. He moves down towards her, an etched look on his face.

"River?" He says her name worryingly, stroking her arm for comfort. She looks at him, a set expression on her face.

"It's nothing," she claims, shaking her head nervously. "I just feel a bit sick." He looks at her up and down; she does look a little pale, but nothing that he would have observed on without her say. He nods his head.

"Did you just…" Claude yells unexpectedly, shock appearing on his face, while he points at the window. The Doctor rushes over to him, looking in the direction of his arms, alerted.

"What is it?" The Doctor asks urgently, his eyes dilate.

"No, sorry. It was nothing," Claude replies, yet his eyes say different.

"What did you see?" He questions, begging for an answer. After all, this is new territory, what's to say they didn't walk in on somebody's land.

"Just there, that ridge. Like a shadow, just for a second." He explains, Joe just hits him playfully.

"Diamonds are just messing with you pal." The Doctor doesn't even take into consideration that Joe just spoke, still alerted by Claude's uneasy 'discovery'.

"What sort of shadow?" He asks, trying as hard as he can to seek out his sighting. Then the alarms go off, rapidly making a high pitched noise. River rises to her feet, still keeping I contact away from the window.

"Extonic rising. Sheild down." Joe confirms, pressing a big blue button. Just before the shield slides all the way down, Claude jumps,

"Look, look, there it is! There it is!" He yells desperately, his face terrified. The Doctor looks up at the window again, searching.

"Where!" Then the shield closes again. The Doctor sighs with frustration, slamming his fist on the soft chair.

"What was it?" He asks again, the agitation of not seeing or knowing trying him crazy.

"Just something shifting, something sort of dark, like it was running," and that's all that needs being said. His hearts starts to beat faster and he begins to breathe just that tiny bit quicker.

"The question is 'where is it running to'," River whispers, her voice a little crackly, she was obviously nervous to. Normally the Doctor wouldn't find it so threatening, somebody seeing a shadow, but it's the shadows that scare the Doctor the most, he could confront thousands of Daleks and feel fine, confident almost, but when it's a shadow…Then he's in trouble. After all, the Vashtra Nerada, a swarm that hides in shadows, was the cause of River's death. Yet River is one of the strongest people he knows. Then the Doctor really gets nervous when Claude answers River's question.

"T-Toward us!" He exclaims, grabbing onto the arms of the chairs tightly.

"Right, Doctor, Doctor River Song. Back to your seats," Joe commands them, pointing the way out. "And, uh, not a word. Rescue's on its way. If you could close the door, thank you." He turns around slowly, still gazing at the closed window, and grabs River's hand, she obliges and walks them into the main room again. As soon as they enter the room Skye, the blonde woman who sat at the front, confronts them with questions.

"What did they say? Did they tell you? What is it? What's wrong?" The Doctor steps back a little, personal space abit too cramped for his liking.

"Ah, nothing to worry about, I promise, scouts honour," He replies back with a smile, making the scouts movement.

"Scouts? What do you mean? Is that code?" She questions, her voice trembling. The Doctor giggles, then realises the situation.

"No, no it's not code. Well, I don't think it is anyway. They're just stabilising, happens all the time," he lies, trying to keep her under control. She shakes her head,

"I don't need this. I'm on schedule. This is completely unnecessary," she complains, not liking this news. River places an arm on her,

"Don't worry, we'll be back-"

"Don't give me that rubbish," she remarks back coldly, moving her arm away from her hand. The air hostess comes running in,

"Back to your seats. Thank you." She states, pushing their back to their seats. Skye sighs grumpily and vigorously walks back to her seat at the front. The Doctor and River to the same. As soon as they sit down Dee Dee puts her head round his chair,

"Excuse me, Doctor," she greets him politely, tapping him in his arm, he turns around to look at her.

"They're micropetrol engines, aren't they?" She informs him with information he already knows. Mr Hobbes breakes in again,

"Now, don't bother the man." River looks in between the crack of hers and the Doctor chair, giving him a deathly look, he soon looks down.

"My father was a mechanic," Dee Dee points out confidently. "Micropetrol doesn't stabilise. What does stabilise mean?" River can see the passenger's heads now turning into their direction, obviously wanted to keep informed also.

"Well it's all a bit of shenangagins really," she says making Dee Dee furrow her eyebrows. "Don't worry they're sorting it out. Mr Hobbes rises from his chair slowly looking at the Doctor to,

"So it's not the engine then?" He asks suspiciously.

He turns around on his chair even more, making sure to look at his face while his talking.

"Just a little pause, that's all."

"How much air have we got?" Hobbes says a little too loudly, making people stare.

"Professor, it's fine." He says again more firmly this time.

"What did he say?" Val speaks loudly from the other end of the ship.

"Nothing," he declared.

"Are we running out of air?" She beings to panic. Mr Hobbes turns to look at her,

"I was just speculating."

"Fat lot of good that did," River whispers loud enough for him to hear. The air hostess returns from the control room,

"Is that right, miss?" Jeff asks, "Are we running out of air?"

"Is that what the captain said?" Val asks quickly. The woman raises her hands,

"If you could all just remain calm.."

"How much air have we got!" She demands to be answered, her temper rising. Jethro rises from his chair and looks at him mom,

"Mum, just stop it," he orders. While the air hostess begins to reassure them everything is fine.

"It doesn't look like it," Jeff snaps.

"He said it!" Yells the woman looking at Professor Hobbes. The air hostess doing all she can to prevent panic, but they were all shouting now. Everyone just lashing out at one and other: Dee Dee and Hobbes shouting at Jeff and Val and Jethro shouting at his parents to calm down, while Skye demands to know what's happening to the air hostess. The Doctor rises from his chair, his index finger in the air. Telling everyone to shush, but they're not taking any notice; they're still bawling and shouting across the ship, very uncivilised. That's when River has enough, she knows nobody will listen to the Doctor, he even said it himself, 'I just have one of those faces nobody listens to'. So she grabs her bag from under her chair and searches for a specific object. Once she retrieves the object she points it into the air and pulls it. Bang! Everyone goes silent, The Doctor automatically turning round to look at her, his hands touching his head_. 'No, it's okay, I wasn't wearing a hat.'_ He thinks quickly. Then he smiles,

"River!" He exclaims through a laugh. "Was that a party popper!"

"Well, I don't think using my gun would be very civilised, unless you prefer-"

"No, no, no, no, no, no." He shrieks, stopping her hand from reaching her utility belt, she just winks at him. He claps his hands, hoping nobody just witnessed that little.. Incident..

"Now, if you care to listen to my good friend Dee Dee…" He speaks to everyone, nodding his head to Dee Dee.

"Oh, um," she mumbles, it obvious she doesn't like being put on the spot, she pushes her glasses up her nose.

"It's just that, well, the air's on a circular filter, so we could stay breathing for ten years." She informs the whole group.

"There you go," River spoke, looking at them all reassuringly.

"And I've spoken to the captain. I can guarantee you, everything's fine." The Doctor promises. _**Pound!**_ A sound is made at the back of the ship, like a hard solid just hit the outside of the ship; everybody stares, totally freaked out.

"What was that?" Val whispers to everyone.

"It must be the metal. We're cooling down. It's just settling." Mr Hobbes informs her, thinking his Mr-know-it-all.

"Rocks. Could be rocks falling," Dee Dee dictates. Everyone seems to act normal again, except River and The Doctor, who carry on looking at the back off the ship.

"What I want to know is how long do we have to sit here?" Jeff complains out loud. _**Pound, pound!**_ The exact same noise was heard again, this time closer to Jethro, he jumps out of his skin.

"What is that?" Skye asks panicking.

"There's someone out there." Val declares, holding onto her husband's hand.

"Don't be ridiculous," Hobbes croaks, looking at the pair.

"Like I said it could be rocks," Dee Dee interrupted. River shook her head, moving past her chair so as she was still in the middle.

"As much as I wish it were rocks Dee Dee, that noise most definitely wasn't the sound of rock falling, I trained to be an archaeologist, if anyone knows about rocks it's me." River states, she didn't want the group to be positive on false hope, may aswell tell them the truth.

"And besides, we're out in the open. Nothing could fall against the sides," the air hostess explains, the Doctor was shocked, even the air hostess was begging to freak out. _**Pound, pound! **_The noise echoed through the machine again, half the group gasps, moving that inches further away from the noise.

"Knock, knock." The Doctor mutters, looking at the walls.

"Who's there?" Jethro finish's off, smiling like an idiot. There was eerie silence, nobody dear speaks.

"Is there something out there? Well, anyone?" Skye asked everyone, expecting an answer. _**Pound, Pound! **_The noise has moved to the other side of the ship.

"What the hell is making that noise?" She yells very scared.

"I'm sorry, but the light out there is extonic. That means it would destroy any living thing in a split second," Mr Hobbes enunciates. "It is impossible for someone to be outside." The Doctor walks in the middle, moving closer to River, they both look around the ship. Pound, pound! The noise has moved once again, and is increasing in volume.

"Fine then, Mr Hobbes, tell me, what is making that noise?" River questions him; she doesn't even have to turn around to know he was speechless. _**Pound! **_This time the Doctor runs towards the sound and takes out his sonic screwdriver.

"Sir, you really should get back to your seat." The air hostess warns him, not wanting to go over to him in the slightest. River walks over to him,

"Doctor," but he doesn't reply, instead he gets out a stethoscope to hear what's outside properly.

"Hello," he greets whatever-it-is-outside. **Pound, pound!** The sound is further down the ship again, coming from the fire exit at the rear.

"It's moving," Jethro states the obvious. River walks slowly toward the door, the Doctor right behind her. The door rattles, loud noises coming from the door.

"It's trying the door," Val yells pointing to the door. Mr Hobbes leans over his chair,

"There is no 'it'. There's nothing out there. Can't be," he argues, denying the reality. The door makes noises again, only this time there a lot more louder, the sounds, clanging and banging, like someone it trying to get in. **Bang, bang! **Everybody jumps, the banging coming from the ceiling.. There was a pause, a very long pause, everyone just staring at the ceiling as if waiting for something to happen. **Pound, pound! **The noise reaches the main door, Val gasps loudly, moving away from the door, dragging her husband with her.

"That's the entrance. Can it get in?" She asks desperately, her hands shaking with horror. Dee Dee shakes her head,

"no. That door's on two hundred weight hydronics." Dee Dee informs calmly.

"Stop it. Don't encourage them," Mr Hobbes accuses her with an angry face. She turns to him,

"Well, what do you think it is?" She replies sharply. Biff walks over to the door, placing his hands on it

"Biff, don't!" Val warns him. The Doctor takes a step towards him,

"Mr Kane, better not." The Doctor agrees with Val, he doesn't pay attention.

"Nah, it's cast iron, that door." He acknowledges still standing with he hands on it; he bangs it three times, as if to show evidence to how strong it is. **Pound, pound, pound! **The sound copying Biff's. Everyone stands back, Skye raises her hands to her mouth, and Dee Dee falls back into her chair.

"Three times! Did you hear that? It did it three times!" Val shrieks, stuttering and shaking all over the place.

"All right, all right, everyone calm down." The Doctor speaks, moving toward the door and facing them all.

"Yeah, but it answered. It answered." Skye barks, herself shaking also. "Don't tell me that thing's not alive. It answered him." **Pound, pound, pound! **The noise echoes again. The Doctor turns around looking at the door.

"I really must insist you get back to your seats!" The air hostess orders, yet again. Skye turns around to look at her, her glare deathly,

"No, don't just stand there telling us the rules!" She yells at her, her anger raging through. "You're the hostess! You're supposed to do something!" River walks into the middle of them both.

"Just shut up! You're not making this _any_ easier by shouting at one and other," River bellows, looking at the two women disgustingly.

"Thank you River," The Doctor thanks her, while banging on the door. He knocks four times. There was silence again, the silence creeps the Doctor and River out the most, in all honesty. **Pound, pound, pound, pound! **The sound replayed back to them.

"What the hell's making that noise?" Skye asks again. Really you'd think that everyone knew everything.

"She said she's get me. Stop it! Make it stop! Make it stop!" She shrieks, covering her head with her hands. The air hostess runs to the phone.

"Don't just stand there looking at me. It's not my fault, He started it with.." Skye accuses, talking very fast,

"Calm down!" Dee Dee yells at the woman, but she doesn't listen, she keeps rambling, talking very fast, as if she were about to have a fit.

"-He made it worse!" Then Val clenches her fists,

"Why wouldn't you leave it alone? Stop staring at me!" She carries on talking. The Doctor walks in the middle of them all Skye on one end and everyone else the other end.

"The rescues coming!" Somebody shouts.

"It was his fault!" Skye shouts, flailing her arms about.

"Calm down!" Dee Dee yells again at the woman. The pounding starts on the ceiling again, everybody looks up. Skye backs up, the sound following her, increases it's pace and volume.

"It's coming for me," she acknowledges, her back now against the wall. "Oh, it's coming for me. It's coming for me!" The banging still heading toward her.

"Ahhh! AHHH! AHHHHHH!" She screams in horror, turning into a ball on the floor. River leaps forward towards her,

"River!" The Doctor yells after her, holding her back, she struggles against him, but he's stronger than he looks.

"Get out of there!" River and The Doctor both yell in unison. The wall dents inwards, the lights go off and the whole ship rumbles, making everyone topple over, losing their balance. Electricity sparks flying everywhere. They move back and forth across the ship, the ships tipping over by something on the outside. The lights finally go off properly, leaving them in complete darkness. The ship stops moving. Everybody groans, slowly getting up from their rumpled positions. Biff and Val hug each other, making sure they're both alright. The Doctor moves over to River, who was thrown against the food trolley, she hit down with a big force. She doesn't seem to be moving, he lifts her, placing her on one of the chairs. He sonics her and looks at the results, he sighs. Jethro runs over to her aswell, he looks at the Doctor.

"Will she be alright?" He asks urgently, a hand on her knee, the Doctor nods.

"Yeah, she'll be up in any minute…. Oh, oh," he sighs, River started flickering her eyes, getting used to the dark room. She moves her head, groining because of the pain.

"You'll be fine," he smiles up at her, kissing her on the forehead. He stands up to look at everyone else.

"Is everyone alright?" He questions, everybody nods, everybody but one person.


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, here is chapter 3. :)

"Earthquake, must be," Mr Hobbes states out of breath, try to get up from the floor. Dee Dee, who is also on the floor, shakes her head,

"But that's impossible. The ground is fixed. It's solid." She disagrees; the Doctor gives her a hand. The air hostess, who was close to the fire exit, yells over Dee Dee,

"We've got torches. Everyone take a torch." She announces, lighting up hers in the Doctor's face. He winces, his face screwing up; she realises and lowers the torch.

"They're in the back of the seats." She informs them all, her voice croaky and rushed. Jethro and Val get their torches from some random seats, shining them around the room. The Doctor bends down and grabs two, handing one to River.

"Thank you sweetie," she breathes out, holding her head. Jethro marches over to the front of the ship, his face mixed with anger and anxiousness.

"Oh, Jethro. Sweetheart, come here." His mother asks him in a sweet motherly tone. He leans onto a chair,

"Never mind me. What about her?" He questions, tapping away his mother's hands. Everybody turns their torches in the direction his looking. All the chairs were broken, the top half magically gone, and right in the corner, her hands protecting her face, sat Skye. She didn't move, she looks frozen.

"What's happened to the seats?" Val asks, taking no notice in the woman, obviously hurt.

"Who did that?" Biff asks, not either of them stopping to ask about Skye.

"They've been ripped up," Val screeches in horror, her hands covering her face. River slowly gets up, with the help of Dee Dee, and limps over to Skye,

"Skye, it's alright, I'm here," she reassures her, placing a hand on her shoulder, she doesn't move. The Doctor looks at her quizzically, and strolls over to her, so as he's bending over next to River, the others just stare and watch, not offering any help.

"It's all right, it's over, like River said. C'mon." The Doctor mutters, offering a hand that she doesn't take. River looks at the surroundings,

"We're still alive, the wall's still intact, you're fine Skye," River tries encouraging her, her torch scanning the walls. The hostess was at the phone again,

"Joe, Claude?" She asks urgently, while River still talks to Skye. "Driver Joe, can you hear me?" The woman yells through the phone, there was no answer, so she slams the phone down angrily, The Doctor reckons it's the shock running through her, not anger.

"I'm not getting any response," she says stomping down the ship to the pilot doors, "the intercom must be down." She presses the yellow button to open the doors, instead of the control room; she was greeted by a blinding light. Everybody screams, their hand blocking their eyes, River runs over to the door, eyes closed and presses the yellow button again, and the door closes again.

"What happened, what was that?" Val yells, pointing to the door. Jeff, who's right behind the hostess looks horrified,

"Is it the driver? Have we lost the driver?" He speaks quickly with panic. The Doctor ignores them all he can, bending down to fiddle with a metal panel in the front wall with his sonic. He buzzes the panel, still hearing the other passengers,

"The cabin's gone," The air hostess realises, panting for breath.

"Don't be ridiculous," Mr Hobbes says once again, the third time while on this ship, River swears if he says that one more time….

"It can't be gone. How can it be gone?" He wonders, shining the light at the door.

"You saw it," Dee Dee comments.

"There was nothing there." The air hostess interrupts loudly, "like it was ripped away." She pants horrifically. River walks over to the woman, her hands on her shoulders,

"You just need to calm down, get yourself anymore worked up and you'll have a fit," she warns the woman with a smile, trying to make her feel better. Biff shines his light at the Doctor,

"What are you doing?" He questions seriously.

"Light! That's better, thank you… Biff," he replies, still sonicing the panel.

"Do you know what you're doing," Val snaps glaring at him distastefully.

"You better leave that wall alone," Biff retorts, tip toeing on his feet to look over the crowd.

"The cabin can't be gone," Mr Hobbes threats, his face utterly confused and star struck.

"No, it's safe," Dee Dee reassures them, acknowledging at what the Doctor's doing.

"Any rupture would automatically seal itself, lovely technology," The Doctor explains to the passengers, some of them giving him dirty looks. He uses his hands to open up the panel, revealing many wires, all of which have been sliced in two. Dee Dee and River look at each other with worried faces,

"Unless something sliced it off," he finishes with a whisper, he looks inside the panel for a moment, "you're right, the cabin's gone."

"But if it gets separated…" The air hostess gulps, her throat going dry, meaning she couldn't finish her sentence.

"It loses integrity," River mutters, looking at the door again in horror. The Doctor sighs, closing his eyes with his head low,

"I'm sorry…" He whimpers, holding onto his sonic tightly. "They've been reduced to dust." He informs them, making them all gasp or shriek, their faces devastated. The air hostess looks like she is about to throw up, she turns pale and was holding onto her stomach.

"The driver and the mechanic," he adds quietly, pausing for a moment, looking at everyone's faces. It's only Jethro and River that don't look half dead. He leaps up and walks to them,

"But they sent a distress signal. Help is on the way," he promises them, hoping he can keep this promise. "They saved our lives. We are going to get out of here, I promise… We're still alive and they're gonna find us."

"Doctor, look at her," Jethro cried, looking at the Skye with sorrow, his torch pointing at her. The Doctor shook his head, he completely forgot about her.

"Right, yeah, sorry. Have we got a medical kit?" He asks, looking at anyone for an answer.

"Why won't she turn around?" Jethro questions, his voice a little worried.

"What's her name?" Hobbes asks the air hostess. River looks up at him, disgust written all over her face.

"Mrs Sky Silvestry, Mr Hobbes, so nice of you to ask her." River comments rudely, the Doctor just ignores her, and turns to Skye one more,

"Skye," he enunciates her name, his eyes brows furrow and the lines appear on his forehead. "Can you hear me?" He leans back down again, so as he's level with her, "you alright… Can you move, Skye… Just look at me." There was a long pause, everybody feeling very nervous, the Doctor was becoming very agitated, yes some people become very socked and traumatised when something like that has happened to them, but Skye was not even attempting to communicate.

"That noise from outside, it's stopped." Jethro utters, looking around the room, the other passenger look to, the air hostess seems to have been a bit jumpy, any slight movement made she would shiver and jump slightly.

"Well, thank God for that." She retorts loudly.

"But what if it's not outside anymore?" Jethro butts in, trying to imply something. There was a pause, and he gulps,

"What if it's inside?" He mutters slowly, eyeing every possible angle of the ship.

"Inside? Where?" Val responds panicky, the light from her torch was shaking, proving that she was trembling; she was honestly scared to death.

"It was heading for her," Jethro replies hoarsely, looking at Skye suspiciously, all the passenger look back at the woman on the floor.

"Sky?" The Doctor repeats her name again in a whisper, "it's all right, Sky. Just want you to turn around, and face me, don't worry I won't bite," he pauses, "unless truly necessary," he mutters as quiet as he can. Skye slowly removes her hands from her head, her back still turned to them all. She turns her head as slow as humanly possible, her head still hanging low and looking at the floor. All of a sudden she snaps her head up, scaring some of the passengers. She looks truly petrifying, her eyes are so empty, yet full of darkness and hate at the same time, the stillness of her is early, she does not even blink. She pauses looking into thin air, then moves her head jaggedly at the passengers, as if she were scanning them. The Doctor says nothing, but just moves closer to her, not to close for her to cause him any harm, but close enough, she hurriedly looks back at him with hungry eyes. He turns his head to the side, and Skye copies, he furrows his eyebrow and turns his head to the other side, and she does the same.

"Skye," he whispers, his courage minimised, scrunched up and chucked away, yet for some reason it's those very reasons he finds this all so fascinating. She looks at him with no emotion,

"Skye," she repeats his words, as if she were an echo.

"Are you alright?" He asks, not for an answer specifically...

"Are you alright?" There we go the exact response he feared. He raised his eyes brow,

"Are you hurt?"

"Are you hurt?" She copies quicker this time; her face still showing no signs of the Skye that first appeared on the ship. All the passengers were silent, watching the two people have the most strangest of conversations ever.

"You don't have to talk," the Doctor suggests to her, not losing any eye contact.

"You don't have to talk," she replies back in the same tone, her eyes never blinking.

"I'm trying to help," The Doctor tells her, his torch pointed at her.

"I'm trying to help," she says back. Why was she repeating everything he was saying, it made no sense. Maybe its shock, after all, the scene they just had, it was terrifyingly scary.

"My name's the Doctor," he enunciates, trying to get her to cooperate with him.

"My name's the Doctor." He gulps,

"Okay, can you stop?" He questions, however rude that question might have sounded.

"Okay, can you stop?" Well that just answers the question really doesn't it; maybe she's being controlled and can't communicate, whatever it is the Doctor does not seem too threatened by it so far. It's only a woman strangely copying his words.

"I'd like you to stop," he commands a bit dryly now, whether it being because he's annoyed at why she can't stop copying him or because he wants to desperately help her, but right now, with her like this, he can't.

"Why she doing that?" Mr Hobbes questions sternly, looking at the Doctor, Skye automatically looks at Mr Hobbes,

"Why she doing that?" She repeats his words, just like she did with the Doctor.

"She's gone mad," Biff acknowledges, shaking his head, as if that weren't as bad as what he'd expected.

"She's gone mad," Skye replies, now looking at him.

"Stop it," Val commands her sharply.

"Stop it," Skye orders back a her just as loud, Val looks taken about and crosses her arms, as if to say 'don't tell me what to do'.

"I said, stop it." She bellows, her voice rising.

"I said, stop it." She replies back with just as much anger.

"I don't think she can," Dee Dee states, looking at Val worriedly.

Skye moves her head to Dee Dee, "I don't think she can."

"Alright now stop it. This isn't funny," Professor Hobbes remarks, shaking his head at her, yeah like she would scare the living day lights out of them because she thinks it's '_funny'._

"Alright now stop it. This isn't funny," she duplicates his words, as if to mock him.

"Shush, all of you, she's only going to repeat you if you talk," River announces to everyone, they all shut up, apart from Skye,

"Shush, all of you, she only going to repeat you if you talk." She uses River's words, which makes the Doctor make a strange face, it's so weird hearing somebody else talk the way River talks. The Doctor nods at her as a thank you.

"My name's Jethro," Jethro jokes, because obviously he knows she's going to repeat, which she does,

"My name's Jethro." As much as the Doctor didn't want to admit it, he wanted to say something like that himself, just for a little laugh. Yet obviously, trying not to make this into a game he had to warn him,

"Jethro please don't, that's not helping."

"Jethro please don't, that's not helping," Skye repeats, The Doctor swears he could see an evil grin behind her masked face. He leans closer to her, person space be damned,

"Doctor…" River warns him, taking a step closer; Dee Dee takes her arm and pulls her back, shaking her head as if to say 'it's not worth it'. River shakes her off and walks closer to the Doctor, so as she is behind him.

"It's alright River. Skye why are you repeating?" The Doctor says, shaking his hand away to River, telling her to stay back, and off course, cause she's River, she does the opposite to The Doctor.

"It's alright River. Skye why are you repeating?" Skye replies, looking at River with her eyes but not moving her head, sending shivers down her spine.

"What is that? Learning?" He asks, mainly to himself, trying to figure her out, he could tell River was thinking the same thing as she steps even closer,

"What is that? Learning?" She says, for some reason the Doctor just takes that as a 'yes'.

"Or copying," River suggests, looking at Skye, she finds this mystery of her very alluring.

"Or copying," Skye responds, looking at River, then at the Doctor.

"Absorbing," The Doctor adds, moving backwards very slowly; like you would if you were walking at night in your house but didn't want to wake anyone.

"Absorbing," she answers back, her mouth opening just that tiny bit more. The Doctor looks at her, then comes up with an idea,

"The square route of pi is 1.77245685…" The Doctor beings to talk quickly,

"The square route of pi is 1.772456850," Skype repeats his words,

"905516027298167483341 fezzes," The Doctor finishes, followed by the exact same numbers coming from Skye's mouth.

"905516027298167483341 fezzes," She repeats, exactly number for number. The passengers look at each other in shock, how did she manage to do that, fair enough she may have knew the number of pi, but it's very unlikely, and to do it with that precision will the Doctor is saying numbers at the same time and not get confused is beyond normality.

"But that's impossible," Mr Hobbes states, his mouth agape, Skye turns to look at him,

"But that's impossible."

"She couldn't repeat that," Dee Dee whispers to Mr Hobbes barely audible, yet somehow Skye heard her say it,

"She couldn't repeat that," Skye says loudly, turning from one head to another.

"Tell her to stop," Val commands impatiently, yeah it's not like they have been trying to do that.

"Tell her to stop." She says a little slower in reply, as if to torment her.

"She's driving me mad," Val adds, her voice shrieking, River rolls her eyes, typical mothers, thinking a go old shout will stop everything.

"She's driving me mad." Skye repeats, that same sly smirk on her face. Everybody starts shouting at once, like they did earlier, only this time Skye was repeating everything they were saying, driving them more insane.

"Stop staring at me." Val retaliates.

"If you don't stop it," the air hostess shouts over everyone.

"Leave my wife alone you freak." Biff yells at her, with a disapproving finger.

"Stop staring at me. If you don't stop it. Leave my wife alone you freak," Skye repeats with precision, not getting one word wrong. The Doctor looks at them all with confusion; even Dee Dee and Mr Hobbes and Jethro were getting involved.

"Ha, ha, look at her just sitting there repeating everything."

"This is impossible."

"She can't be human; she has to be a robot or something."

"Let's make her sing." All the passenger start shouting at once, Skye just moves her head like a robot, staring at everybody who speaks and repeating everyone's words, even if three spoke at the same time, she would manage it.

The Doctor stands up urgently, raising his hands in the air,

"Now stop. Stop it, all of you." He shouts at them all, like he had done only half an hour ago. The all still bicker, none of them stopping, just shouting over each other one after the other, River just sits there gob smacked, watching Skye, or what looks like Skye, to just repeat everything, every single word, all of them, even the Doctor's and he was talking over six different people at the same time. The air hostess walks closer to her,

"Please stop, you're panicking everybody," she tries saying calmly, but it comes out a threat.

"Please stop, you're panicking everybody." She replies, she seems to be repeating quicker and quicker now,

"666," Jethro shouts at her smiling.

"666," she replies back, which in all honesty scared River slightly, a person like this saying the devils number, it was not right. Just as everyone was shouting the lights suddenly appear on, making Val gasp loudly, everyone looks around the room with relief, at least there's one good think. The ship begins to hum slightly,

"That the backup system." The Air hostess informs, breathing heavily.

"Well, that's a bit better." Jeff retorts, holding onto his wife, River automatically steps away from Skye realising something wrong, the others don't notice.

"What about the rescue, how long's it going to take," Val asks urgently.

"About sixty minutes, that's all," the woman replies calmly. Professor Hobbes leans against the wall,

"Then I suggest we all calm down," he says, pointing out the obvious. Jethro smiles at the positive news, then looks at River, who's looking at Skye, he smile falters dramatically within seconds. Mr Hobbes was still talking,

"and that poor woman is evidently in a state of.." The Doctor turns to Skye, "Self-induced hysteria. We should leave her…" But Mr Hobbes' voice doesn't sound normal, almost echo-like.

"Doctor," Jethro warns, looking at Skye creeped- out.

"I know," he replies, taking River's arms and pulling her back. Mr Hobbes obviously doesn't realise as he keeps talking,

"Doctor, now step back," again his voice sounds echoed. "I think you should leave her.." Then he looks at Skye, she talking at the same time as him, he shuts up; not saying another word.

"What's she doing?" He questions her, as she talks with him in unison, "how could she do that?" Val move closer to Mr Hobbes and pokes him,

"She's talking with you." She states, and then looks at Skye, "and with me… Oh, my God! Biff, what's she doing?" She asks, her voice going croaky and her hands reaching for her husband's grasp.

"She's repeating," Jethro answers his mum, in unison with Skye; he does not take his eyes of her. "At exactly the same time." Dee Dee, who is now sitting on a chair, with her elbow keeping her comfy, looks at Skye,

"That's impossible." She utters, not even believing her own words. River looks at the Doctor,

"Doctor, the lights so happen to turn on at the exact time she adapts to a new trick, you can't ignore that coincidence," he nods at her, knowing she one hundred per cent true, "she's learning fast."

"There's not even a delay," Mr Hobbes realises, again Skye speaking in unison with all their words.

"Oh, man that is weird." Jethro speaks, shaking his head with a stupid grin on.

"Just be quiet. Like River said, she's adapting, the more we talk the more she learns," The Doctor reasons with them, trying to get them to talk less.

"How she doing it?" Val responds, looking at the woman with hate.

"Mrs Kane I insist you stay quiet," River says calmly, taking a step closer to her to calm her down, but she backs away,

"How can she do that? She's got my voice! She's got my words!" Val begins to panic, pointing a finger at her accusingly. Biff grabs her from behind,

"Darling, be quiet. Hush, now, hush." He says to her, trying to calm her down. He looks at her "She's doing it to me to." He realises, watching Skye say his words at the same time as him. The Doctor looks at them both,

"Just stop it please," he tells them, annoyed at how many times he'll have to say those words again.

**I'll stop it there, cause the next bit I find amusing on the episode, so it should be a good way to start next chapter off.**


	4. Chapter 4

The Doctor kneels down towards Skye- or what took the formation of Skye anyway. He looks her in the eyes, so icy and grin.

"Now then Skye, is it Skye? Is Skye still in there? Mrs Silvestry?" The Doctor questions her, Skye repeating word for word at the same time. River goes to walk over but the Doctor looks at her, thst certain look that read 'step away'. She does as told and stays back near Jethro.

"You know exactly what I'm going to say. Very clever and smart, quite like my bowtie." He gleams, trying not to make the atmosphere so serious, but failing terribly. River scoffs at his words, shaking her head. The Doctor ignores her and looks back to Skye,

"How are you doing that?" He raises the question. There was a brief pause, nobody said a word. The Doctor lent back, as did Skye, mirroring his actions, and he clicks his tongue.

"Fish fingers and custard," The Doctor and Skye state at the same time. "Apples are rubbish… Appalappachia…" Another pause, the Doctor leans in closer and so does Skye, they are literally inches apart. River's body twitches while watching them both.

"GERONIMO!" The Doctor yells, scaring half the people in the ship. But Skye is copying word for word, not a second delay. "Amy Pond, Rory Williams, River Song, Sexy." The Doctor speaks fast, trying to catch her out. The Doctor leans back again, so does Skye- dejavu?

"Fezzy- Wezzy- Awesomy- Hat… Oh, Doctor, you're so handsome. Yes, I am. Thank you," he compliments himself- straightening his bow tie and lapels, River scoffs again, now his just taking the mic. The Doctor furrows his eyebrows,

"A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O." He stops; the next letters right at the top of his tongue, but the creature's clever- probably expected as much. The Doctor gives a grin, he could carry on for ages, but River decides to pull him up and away from the woman. River gives him a stern look,

"First she repeats, then she catches up. What's the next stage, huh, sweetie? Don't go teasing the thing; you don't know what it's capable of," she warns him, poking him in the chest, squabbling like an old married couple… Well they were married. Dee Dee face appears alarmed, she stand up frantically,

"Next stage of what?" Dee Dee looks at River with a worried expression.

"It's not her, is it? That's not Mrs Silvestry anymore," Jethro clarifies in a hoarse tone, either because his throats gone very dry due to his nervousness or his vocal cords just decides to go a pitch lower for no reason.

"No Jethro, I don't think so," The Doctor agrees, licking his bottom lip. Val then starts to sob into Jeff arms, the news too much for her to take.

"I think the more we talk, the more she learns," he speaks slowly while studying her, the blonde independent woman he knew before the crash was long gone.

"Now, I'm all for education, but in the case, maybe not," he adds on, taking a gulp. "Let's just move back. Come on, come with me." He orders them all, raising his hands to push them all away. He bops River on the nose, "Especially you, I don't want anything happening to you understand, just keep away on this one." She moves slowly in the directions his moving them all, but she moves closer to his ear.

"This 'thing', whatever it is, Doctor, do you have any knowledge on such a thing," she whispers in his ear, not wanting to attract any attention. He shook his head,

"No, nothing as extreme as this. You?" He admits, looking back on Skye. For some reason not having any eye contact on the woman leaves him… Weary? Like she is some sort of Weeping Angels, that if you were to turn you back you would be attacked instantly.

"I've read theories. Hypnotism, possession, mind control… But this, this is far beyond acknowledgement Doctor. I've never seen anything like it," she replies back in a worrying tone. He nods calmly, gripping onto her back even harder.

"Doctor, make her stop," Val commands, in a nasal tone, her crying must have blocked her up a little. The Doctor lets go of River and holds onto Val, reassuring her to stay away,

"Val, come with me. Come to the back. Back is good, back is very good. Just- Just don't look at her okay, pretend she's pregnant."

"Pregnant?" The woman snaps back, looking shocked. The Doctor nods,

"Yeah, you don't tend to stare at pregnant woman because otherwise they hit you. So just pretend she's pregnant okay. Now c'mon…"

"Jethro, you, too," River utters, walking up to him and putting an arm around his back, moving him closer to them at the back. Once they're all up in the back huddled up the Doctor takes a deep breath,

"Fifty minutes, that's all we need," he confirms, nodding at them all reassuringly. "Fifty minutes till the rescue arrives and she's not exactly strong. Look at her." He turns around to look at the woman in the corner. The Doctor hates to regret it, but even though she's weak that doesn't mean she cannot do any harm. He remembers Leadworth, all the old people, boy, to say they were all old they certainly moved fast. He shakes that memory away. "All she's got is our voices." Val shakes her head,

"I can't look at her. It's those eyes." She says quickly, blocking her sight from Skye. Dee Dee looks at Skye, she was looking straight back at her, an unnerving feeling was drawn to the pit of her stomach, making her shiver all over.

"We must not look at goblin men." Dee Dee states, everyone turns to look at her bewildered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jeff states as if that was the silly thing his ever heard. River looks at Jeff, and gulps,

"It's a poem, Christina-"

"Rossetti," the Doctor ends her conversation rudely. Jeff blinks, feeling slightly nervous, Skye is looking at him now,

"We must not look at goblin men; we must not but their fruits. Who knows upon what soil they fed, their hungry thirsty roots?" She speaks the poem monotone. The poem itself was very nerving and scary, suppose it's just right for that monster in the corner then. The Doctor frowns,

"Dee Dee, at least sing a happy poem. Humpty Dumpty?" The Doctor comments' while shaking his head, Dee Dee blinks up at him.

"Humpty Dumpty dies," she reminds him, the Doctor frowns. Quite taken aback by her hurtful knowledge.

"And besides, she's not a goblin or a monster." Professor Hobbes argues, "She's just a very sick woman."

"Maybe that's why it went for her," Jethro suggests while leaning against a pole. Mr Hobbes sighs,

"There is no 'it'," he snaps back. River rolls her eyes, when he going to give up on the predicament?

"Think about it, though. That knocking went all the way around until it found _her_. And she was the most scared out of all of us," Jethro states confidently… He looks back at her, "Maybe that's what it needed. That's how it got in."

"For the last time, nothing can live on the surface of Midnight," Mr Hobbes retaliates angrily. Oh, looks about the right time to butt in,

"Professor, I like your glasses by the way- glasses are cool," he states, making River elbow him, he flinches, "humph. Anyway, I'm glad you've got an absolute definition-"

"Which he just so happens to repeat non-stop," River mutters, earning a smile from Jethor and Dee Dee, Mr Hobbes frowns at her,

"Like I was saying, I'm glad you've got an absolute definition of life in the universe, but perhaps the universe has got ideas of its own," he proposes, raising his eyebrow.

**Reveiws? Sorry it took so long to update :/ **


	5. Chapter 5

Lovely reviews guys. I'm glad you enjoy River and Eleven in this episode. :)

The Doctor looks at the all eagerly,

"Not trust me, I've got previous," he turns around to stare at Skye. Who is still managing to say every word at the exact same time as them. "I think there might well be some consciousness inside Mrs Silvestry, but maybe she's still in there… And it's _our_ job to help her," he pleads to them all with a serious face. Even without their help he would still have River, but having a full cooperating team helps a whole lot better.

"You can help, but I'm not going near," Jeff informs, shaking his head and placing his arms over his chest, suggesting not to argue with him. The Doctor nods,

"No I've got to stay back," The Doctor agrees. "Cause if she's copying us, then maybe the final stage is becoming us," he states worryingly. All the passengers look at him nervously, trying to listen to him talking so fast, to be honest it was quite hard to keep track. Imagine if they met the tenth incarnation! "I don't want her becoming me, or River for that matter, otherwise things would definitely not be very good." Val laughs through her nose,

"Oh, and you two are so special," she comments sarcastically, pointing her head up in the air in disgust. The Doctor looks at River and then back to Val; he smirks and bops Val on the nose.

"Special enough that lives depend on us," he spoke honestly, straightening his bow tie. "Anyway, so it's decided then. We stay and we wait…" The Doctor pauses for a moment, hearing River snicker behind him.

"Cause you're a professional at waiting," he hears her mumble. He ignores her side comment,

"When the rescue ship comes, we can get her to the hospital." He suggests, which in all fairness sounds like an alright plan. Everyone stays silent, staring at him.

"We should throw her out," The hostess hisses, her eyes showing no emotion on the outrageous suggestion she just made. Everybody stares at her in shock,

"I beg your pardon?" Professor Hobbes says in a rough tone, looking at the woman in hatred. Val, on the other hand, looks quite keen on that plan,

"Can we do that?" She asks, the idea seeming to look better and better by the minute.

"Wh- Don't be ridiculous," The Doctor butts in the conversation, backing up Mr Hobbes.

"That thing, whatever it is, killed the driver and the mechanic and I don't think she's finished yet," the air hostess debates, her breathing becoming quicker and quicker.

"She's can't even move," River adds, her hands pointing to the woman, finding this all reckless and stupid.

"Look at her. Look at her eyes," The air hostess shrieks in horror, panic starting to take over her. "She killed Joe and she killed Claude and we're next." Jeff tightens his fists,

"She's still doing it. Just stop it!" He marched toward Skye in anger, "Stop talking! Stop it!" He yells and her, his voice raging. Skye shouts back with just as much will power and anger.

"Biff, don't, sweetheart!" Val shouts innocently, sobs starting her up again, she pulls her hand out for him.

"But she won't stop!" He yells back, his breathing quickening. He turns around and marched back at them, River sees Dee Dee flinch; maybe she thought Biff would hit her or someone else. He certainly looks up for the idea. "We can't throw her out, though. We can't even open the doors." He finishes doubtfully, finally calming down.

"Nobody is getting thrown out," the Doctor states warningly, frown lines appearing on his face. Biff doesn't reply, he just looks at the Doctor, as if he is challenging him. He breathes out through his nose and walks away, keeping eye contact with The Doctor.

"Yes, we can 'cause there's an air pressure seal," Dee Dee comments, really even Dee Dee? River looks at her shockingly. The Doctor turns his body to look at her properly. Dee Dee gulps but carries on anyway, "Like when you opened the cabin door, you weren't pulled out," she explains, looking at the air hostess. "You had a couple of seconds 'cause it take the pressure wall about six seconds to collapse… Well six second exactly," she finishes, moving her head to the side. "That's enough time to throw someone out."

"Uh, Dee Dee, that really helps," The Doctor speaks sarcastically, looking at her disappointedly.

"Would it kill her outside?" Val questions innocently, looking at Dee Dee eagerly.

"I don't know," Dee Dee replies, shrugging her shoulders. "But she's got a body now. It'd certainly kill the physical.."

"Killing won't help in any way!" River utters, looking at everyone. Val scoffs,

"Says the one with the gun…" River gives her an almost death glare, she turns her head behind her shoulder,

"And I have good intention on using i-" The Doctor coughs very loudly interrupting River from finishing her sentence. The last thing they need is a fight between two women; god knows how that'll turn out.

"I wouldn't risk the cabin door twice, but we've got that one," the air hostess confesses, looking at the back door. "All we need to do is grab hold of her and throw her out."

"I know this face is one you'd ignore, but just listen, please. That right there, it unbelievably… Well new! A brand new life form, right there, and if it's come inside to discover us, then what's it found?" The Doctor said enthusiastically, moving back and forth on his heels. "This little bunch of humans, and what you want to do is.. Murder! I've known humans, I've been with them long enough to know that you're not like that. Could you actually murder that woman, any of you?" He questions, looking at everyone. "Cause I'm certainly not allowing any of that. 'Cause I know for a fact you're better than that." Everybody looks down at the floor besides River and Jethro, the Doctor's not too bothered by that though, 'cause he knows they mean right. The silence stuck for in the air for a few seconds, everybody not daring to speak.

"I'd do it…" The air hostess speaks hoarsely; once again everyone looks at her shocked.

"So would I," Jeff adds.

"And me," Val confesses quickly.

"I think we should." Dee Dee expresses.

"Dee Dee?" River says her name, her eyes brow raised.

"I want her out," Val now orders, clenching her jaw together.

"How can you say this, I-" The Doctor literally speechless, but he knows her going to have to argue back to keep Skye, or what's left of her, alive.

"I'm sorry but you said it yourself Doctor. She's growing in strength." Dee Dee replies in panic.

"That's not what he said," River butts in frustrated.

"I wanna go home. I'm sorry. I want to be safe," she comments with a sigh, tearing forming in her eyes. River walks forward and takes her hands,

"I know. Dee Dee, trust me, I know what it's like, wanting to go home so badly you'd literally do anything for it to happen," she gulps, and feel the Doctor stare. "But you have to be strong. Just think, the more we're talking the faster she will learn," River tries to convince her.

"You'll be safe. Trust me on that. Any minute now the rescue truck is on its way," the Doctor promises, trying to work out a smile to convince her further.

"And what happens then, Doctor?" The waitress blurts out seriously. "if it takes that _thing_ back to the Leisure Palace, if that thing reaches civilisation, what if it spreads?" river thinks long and hard, that is a very good comeback. River doesn't have any knowledge on this creature. So what if they change the future by letting it live. Surely if they wouldn't have been here then the creature would be thrown overboard. So what if they're changing the future right now by just being here? River sighs, it's always something when you travel with this man.

**Thank you for reading let me know what you think please**.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you for the reviews guys. Just as a heads up, I've found doing this- using Eleven and River instead of Ten and Donna- really fascinating. So if you have any suggestions for any other episodes I could do this with then please do tell. Somebody told me they wanted me to do The Impossible Planet/The Satins Pit, so I may think about that. Any other suggestions either leave as a review or private message me. Many thanks. **

The Doctor shakes his head,

"No, when it gets back to the base, I'll be there to contain it, if you will," he responds, trying to persuade them as much as he can.

"Well you haven't done much so far," Val utters negatively, poking him in the chest. Biff takes a deep breath and then scowls, backing up his wife.

"He's just standing there, twiddling his thumbs, messing with that ridiculous bow tie," Biff yells at the Doctor- who is grasping his bow tie for life, finding that comment extremely insulting- Biff looks him up and down disgusted. "How are you any different to us? Standing at the back and doing nothing." The Doctor raises both his eyebrows; nobody's – specifically in this regeneration- has spoken to him with such distaste and anger. But The Doctor can't blame him for being mad, his just a human, the instinct are kicking in, the danger about so they do anything in their power to avoid it, whatever the costs.

"She's dangerous," the air hostess interrupts, looking at him with daggering eyes. "It's my job to see that this vessel is safe. We should get rid of her." She states, her palm start to turn sweaty and her breathing is picking up in pace. River looks at the woman with an etched face, no intention to hide how she's feeling. She looks furious and so shocked at the same time, which, in all honesty, the Doctor is aswell, the way these people are handling this situation; it's nerve-racking to say the least. He can tell that she's just really to pounce, to just yell at them all for their stupidity, but he shakes his head at her, unnoticed to the others. She frowns at him, almost in a pouty way, but stays quiet anyway. Normally she would be the first to do the opposite to what he would ask or say, but I suppose this wasn't really a time or place to be playing games.

"Now hang on. I think perhaps we're all going a little bit too far," Mr Hobbes announces, to the Doctor's relief, somebody clever enough to realise how stupid all this is.

"Ah, thank god, thank you. Somebody with some sense," River blurts out mistakenly, giving Mr Hobbes a weak smile. The air hostess slams her foot to the floor,

"Two people are dead!" She yells loud and clear.

"Exactly, so I don't want that number to rise, even by one," The Doctor retaliates; after all, they don't want another death to deal with. She stares at him with no expression on her face, obviously that shut her up. River sighs and turns to Jethro,

"Jethro, what do you say?" River asks calmly, hoping for a good answer that would agree with her, The Doctor and Mr Hobbes. He gulps,

"I'm not killing anyone," he replies in a husky tone, his face firm, showing all seriousness in his answer. River nods and the Doctor pats him on the back with a smile,

"Thank you Jethro," he says positively, smiling for the first time in a few hours.

"He's just a boy," Val spits out. Out of all the people she would fight against, her own son? Jethro looks out her astonished as he leans of the metal behind him.

"What, so I don't get a vote?" He replies, his voice raised, he feels very insulted and hurt.

"There isn't a vote. We're not going to kill _anyone_," The Doctor enunciates as clearly and loudly as he could. "If you try to throw her out that door, then you'll have to go through me first," he states. He so wants to add on _'I've always wanted to say that'_, but he knew that would only make him seem babyish and unintelligent. River's taken aback for a few seconds, what was he doing, there are four of them willing to kill to survive and there he goes sacrificing and getting further involved. Well, she wasn't going anywhere he wasn't,

"And through me," she adds on, giving herself a serious looking face from the Doctor… There was a pause.

"Okay," the air hostess agrees, much to the Doctor bewilderment. His eyes widen and his pupils dilate as soon as she says _that_ word.

"I never liked you anyway," Val agrees with the air hostess, looking at River with stabbing eyes.

"Fine by me," Jeff adds on. River blinks at them,

"Are you seriously thinking about killing off two people just so as you can kill off a third? You're being stupid," River retaliates, looking at them all as is they were murders, which in theory they could well be by the end of this trip. The Doctor hold her back, apparently River likes to get in people faces a bit too much, something about his touch automatically calms her down, and she backs away, not too much not to be noticed, but for her not to be the first main target for them to throw out. The Doctor turns back to them all,

"You can't possibly tell me that you, you could take hold of someone, someone right here right now, and throw them out the door," he says in a raucous tone. Jeff raises his chest,

"Are you calling me a coward!" Jeff yells in his face, as if he were challenging him.

"Who put you in charge anyway?" Val argues, pulling at his sleeve.

"I'm sorry Doctor, but what are you a Doctor of exactly?" The Doctor gives a smug grin, as if that were the most stupid question his ever heard, yet he felt so offended at the same time. It's not as if his saved their planet and race a billion amount of times.

"He wasn't even booked in. Or you," The air hostess remarks, looking at River. "The rest of you, tickets in advance, they just showed up out of the blue," she points out.

"Where from?" Val questions eagerly. The Doctor steps back slowly, escaping from them as good as he can, not to subtle though, seeming he keeps on treading into River from behind.

"I'm just a – I mean _we're_ just travellers. That's all. Us seeing the stars and galaxies, all good fun. Also a great way to increase my postcard collection," he says quickly, knowing that they're probably not even the slightest bothered, but he says it anyway.

"And honeymoons," River slyly adds in quietly, only enough for The Doctor to hear, he scoffs and nudges her in the stomach, "I hate you," she whispers in retaliation.

"Travelling, what you mean like an immigrant?" Val questions, eager to know the truth for once.

"Who were you talking to? Before you got on board, you were talking to someone. Who was that?" The air hostess quizzes, taking a step closer towards him. The Doctor shrugs his shoulders,

"A good friend of mine. Amelia Pond," he replies back calmly, furrowing his eye brows at the question.

"What were you saying to her?" Biff asks sternly, suggesting some sort of team work immigration plan or something. River steps forward, in front of the Doctor, too much of his annoyance.

"We're not involved in any of this, if that's what you're implying Biff," River comments at him sternly with a frustrated expression.

"How can we trust what you say? I mean for God's sake he hasn't even told us his name," Biff retaliates, accusing and pointing fingers.

"The thing is though, Doctor, you've been loving this," Jethro points out, looking at him accusingly. The Doctor rolls his eyes,

"Jethro, not you to," he mutters, moving his head to the side.

"No, but ever since all the trouble has started, you've been loving it," Jethro states, which je is correct in every way. The Doctor mouth is left agape,

"It has to be said, both you and your _partner_ do seem to have a certain glee," Mr Hobbes acknowledges, so even his turning against them. Great.

"I can't help it! I'm interested. This is all new. I'm a traveller, I've read, seen and physically been involved with loads of history, but this, _this_ is extraordinary. If something is new or unique you know what you do?" He raises the question, everyone is silent. "You poke it with a stick. You investigate."

"Where's a little life without danger?" River questions, looking up at him and arching her eyebrow. Whether that was aimed at the Doctor or everyone else that was unclear.

"Is this all just some big joke to you? What, you wanted this to happen?" Val shrieks at them both.

"No!" River and The Doctor both say in unison.

"Well, you two were the only ones to talk to her throughout the whole trip. Right at the front," Biff argues, pointing to the front of the ship. "And you? You were definitely quite close with her- taking her side before she was possessed," he adds looking at River. "I saw you!"

"We all did!" Val yells, agreeing with her husband.

"You went into the cabin," The air hostess says. The Doctor only just manages to hear her because of Jeff yelling at him,

"What were you saying to her?" He shouts at River.

"I was just talking, like you were with The Doctor. Nothing special," she replies back aggravated.

"Saying what!" He yells back at her, his face turning red and has face was shaking/

"You called us 'humans', like you're not one of us." Jethro adds to the banter, looking over to the Doctor.

"He did, that's what he said." Val finally agrees with something Jethro has said. The Doctor looks at everyone frantically, trying to catch up with what everyone was saying,

"And the wiring…" Dee Dee adds, "he went into that panel and opened up the wiring. And you. You have a laser gun in her holster that isn't even invented yet," she informs, pointing to River's gun, which is hiding behind her clothing. The Doctor takes a step in front of River now; they all were seeming to get a little too worked up for his liking.

"The wiring was after," The Doctor replies to Dee Dee.

"But how did you know what to do!" Biff bellows at him, so loud that even Val seems a little shocked as to how mad he has become.

"Because he's clever!" River shouts just as loud back at him. The room turns silent, even the Doctor was speechless. He wasn't expecting River to blurt out that, maybe she felt pressured. Nah, that's not like her. Maybe she felt like she was in danger? After all, maybe these human aren't as weak as they look. Mr Hobbes laughs through his nose,

"I see," he speaks sarcastically. "Well, that makes things clear." Biff scoffs, shaking his head dismissively,

"And what are we, then? Idiots?" River laughs softly to herself,

"Well actua-" She was about to finish off her sentence before The Doctor interrupts her, it was for her own good,

"That's not what she implied."

"If you and him are clever, then what are we?" Dee Dee asks offended.

"You two have been looking down on us from the moment we walked in," Val claims, frowning at them both.

"Doesn't matter if she both go does it? It seems as if they've already volunteered," the air hostess acknowledges. The Doctor gulps and holds onto River hand tightly,

"Ha, just listen to yourselves, you're being a hazard to all of us," The Doctor cries out, desperate to not look guilty.

"Do you mean… We throw them both out as well." Biff suggests, looking at them both up and down, seeing whether or not he could carry them both. The Doctor's eyes widen as far as possible, and for nearly once in his entire life, his stomach has gone 'funny'- the feeling of fear maybe? Denial? Knowing that human are very capable of harming yourself and the one you love. There was a silence. Everyone was looking at each other, as if they were actually thinking about it.

"If you even_ dare_ touch him I swear I will-" River threats, her holding at the ready for her gun, but the ait hostess interrupts,

"If we have to," she confirms no doubt in the way she speaks. River grabs for her gun and pull it out, everyone gasps, jumping back a mile. The Doctor quickly grabs it from her grasp from behind,

"River how will this help. You'll be just as bad as them," he spat out, as soon as he said the word he felt guilty at shouting at her, but he was right.

"Not if I turn it to stunned," she replies back, his tone obviously hadn't knocked her the slightest. "Well you're not having this back," he informs, dropping the good in a pocket on the inside of his pocket. Bigger on the inside. She rolls her eyes and gives his a stare.

"look at them, even now they're acting it all out. The were-friendly-husband-and-wife-trick. And you think we're stupid." Val confesses, laughing at them in mockery. The Doctor was still looking at River to be bothered to reply to Val, he gives River a final stare and looks up, being met with twelve eyes. He tugs at his lapels,

"Look, I know you're scared. And so am I, and River, just look at us. Pupils have dilated."

"Contacts," Dee Dee remarks.

"…We're shaking," he adds on.

"Acting." Dee Dee replies again, anything to counter act his statement.

"Fine, fine. Think what you will, but we've all just got to calm down and think." The Doctor commands.

"Perhaps you could tell us your name?" Mr Hobbes asks as he folds his arms around his chest.

"What does it matter?" The Doctor replies.

"The tell us," Val urges on. The Doctor gulps, thinking of a name, he'll just stick to the regular fake name,

"John Smith," he lies, and it's blatantly obvious. The way he spent time to say his name, the was he said it.

"Your real name." Mr Hobbes orders, not looking at all convinced.

"His lying look at his face!" Biff yells.

"His eyes are the same as hers," Val comments quietly, looking at Skye in the corner, still saying every word everyone's saying at the same time.

"Why won't you tell us?" Jethro asks, looking concerned.

"It's a symptom," the airhostess concedes. River frowns at her, and Val shouts at the Doctor,

"A symptom? Are you mad!"

"He's been lying to us from the start." They both shout over each other. Everybody starts to shout at the same time again, apparently this is becoming a recurring thing now, definitely not cool.

"No one's called John Smith!"

"I bet his not human!"

"It's them three isn't it, they're working together!"

"Throw em' out!" People shout all at once, the volume in the room could blow the ship into pieces, not knowing the light rays off Midnight itself.

"Listen to me. Listen to me right now because you need me, all of you!" The Doctor shouts over all of them, pulling his hands in the air. "If we are going to get out of this then you need me!" He yells, modesty can go to hell.

"So you keep saying. You've been repeating yourself more than her." Mr Hobbes retaliates. Who was he talking about River or Skye? Probably Skye. River automatically stops, the colour in her face drains, but no one besides Dee Dee has noticed. The others carry on fighting,

"If anyone's in charge, it should be the professor. He's the expert!" Val admits. River gulps,

"Stop a minute, stop. Just look," she merely whispers, even the Doctor looks at her confusingly.

"You can keep out of this. River Song, what sort of name is that?" She insults her. Normally River would have the right mind to hit her, but she's too concentrated on the other thing. Jethro waves a hand at his mom,

"No mum. It's Skye… Look at her," he tells her. Everyone turns around to look at the woman. She still appears motionless, sitting on the floor. "She's stopped."

**Dun, dun, duuuuun. Haha, hope you enjoyed this. :) **


	7. Chapter 7

The Doctor looks at her quizzically, he furrows his eyebrows. Why would she just stop all of a sudden? Maybe Skye was no longer possessed? But then why would she still be sitting there motionless. The Doctor takes a step forward,

"When did she…" He mutters, yet to all of their bewilderment, Skye talks at the same time as him. "No she hasn't, she's still doing it," he informs them. Skye was only looking at the Doctor, like he was some sort of main prize that was worth millions, her gaze never leaving him.

"She looks the same to me," Val comments, in what would seem a normal tone compared to how she has been talking the past few hours. However Skye does not talk at the same time as Val, her face frowns. "No. She's stopped." Her voice sound almost amused, you could even hear a small laugh at the end of her sentence, a laugh of relief. "Look, I'm talking and she's not," she points out the obvious. The Doctor starts to walk even closer towards Skye, his face showing confusion. River goes to walk forward but there's something that stops her, so she stands her ground.

"What about me? Is she…" Biff questions, but no, Skye is talking the same time as him either. The Doctor is literally half a metre away. Skye wasn't taking her eyes off of him, her head was moving in every direction his eyes would go. It made even Jethro self-conscious. "Look. Look at that. She's not doing me. She's let me go," Jeff adds.

"Mrs Silvestry?" the air hostess spoke, marching her way to Skye aswell. It sounded as if she was going to command her to do something, but all she wanted to do was to see if Skye was talking with her aswell. "Nor me. Nothing," she says happily yet she didn't seem too happy, after all Skye was still speaking with The Doctor.

"Sky?" The Doctor says in almost a warning, she carries on copying him. River walks forward and grasps onto the Doctor sleeve,

"Doctor, what is sh-"

"I don't know," he answers her question before she even asked it. He jumps in front of Skye, jumping River out of her skull; he lands with a thump in front of Skye. It would seem that he attempted to jump Skye but really he just clumsily fell over. He recovers quickly anyhow and starts to look serious now. "Skye…What are you doing?" Dee Dee walks up near River,

"She's still doing him," she acknowledges, lifting up her glasses further up her nose. Mr Hobbes rushes forward, barging Dee Dee out the way,

"Doctor, it's you. She's only copying you," he confirms, if River wasn't just half looking at him then she would have noticed that small grin that appeared across the side of his face, but he clears his face and quickly changes expressions.

"Why me? I suppose the bow tie may have caused some attention, haha, you should see my Stetson," he turns around to point and smile at River, who just glares at him back. He coughs and looks back at Skye, "But why. Why are you doing this?" He asks seriously, of course she doesn't reply to his question but carries on talking with him, which become very aggravating after a while.

"She won't leave him alone. Do you see? I said so. She's with him," Val accuses, pointing a finger at him.

"They're together," Biff states, even though he is wrong, so very very wrong. River head snaps at the couple,

"Together. Seriously? How in the world could he have planned this? Any of this? It would have took a genius-" the Doctor looks at her insulted, his expression hurt, she waves a hand at him, "you know what I mean sweetie," she mutters under her breathe. Val and Biff looks at her with daggering eyes, as if they are fed up with the stupid little sweet talk between her and The Doctor.

"Well yes, that true. But there's three of you isn't there. You, him and her," he points at them all individually.

"How do you explain it, Doctor River song, hm. If you and him are so clever then explain to me," Professor Hobbes commands, his voice almost sound as if he were intrigued. River stays there for a few moments, what is she meant to say. Neither her or The doctor have ever come across anything like this. She shakes her head,

"I-I don't know…" She replies in a quiet voice but loud enough to be heard, she looks at the Doctor for some support but even he doesn't really know what to say, so he stays there knees crouched while he looks Skye right in the eyes.

"Skye stop it," The Doctor commands, everybody turns to look at him now. "Now I'm not one for violence, I learned to stop that many years ago, but if you carry on then I'm sorry. I can help you, but you just need to stop it." That's it, he has offered her help, there's not much more he can do.

"Look at the three of them," Val comments in a hoarse sharp tone. The Doctor moves even closer to Skye, he is literally three inches from her face, if she wanted she could easily lash out at him. River's belly goes numb; she clutches her knuckles hard so as her skin turns white and she gulps, over the last ten seconds her mouth had become tremendously dry. She can't stop it, her legs move without her command, she runs for the Doctor, all this too much to bear.

"Doctor, just leave it. Like you said, the more you talk the more she learns," River threats trying to pull him away, but he not having it. It's as if he's in a trance and can't move.

"Mrs Silvestry, I'm trying to understand," he enunciates, trying to speak as clear as he can. "What do you need? You need my voice in particular," he says slowly, that's when River realises she just stood there doing nothing, she tries again to pull him, but he doesn't move a muscle, which is normally the opposite of normal. The Doctor's so light she could easily bruise him just by poking him, so God knows why he isn't budging now. It's like there's an invisible force keeping him there. The Doctor carries on with what he's saying, "the cleverest voice in the room. Why? Because I'm the only one who can help? Oh, I'd love that to be true…" River is literally yanking him as hard as she can try to get him to move, but he just won't,

"Doctor," she says his name in a croaky, brittle tone. He doesn't take any notice. River takes a quick glance at Skye; she could just imagine the sly grin behind that placid face of hers.

"But your eyes say differently, they're something else," The Doctor carries on his conversation with Skye. "Listen to me, whatever you want, if it's life or form-" When the Doctor speaking these words River is on the breach of tears, she can't stop him. She feels hands on her hips, making her jump, she looks around her shoulder, it's Biff and Mr Hobbes, they're pulling her back. River drags her feet across there floor,

"Get off me. Get off!" She yells at them while they drag her across the floor, she picks up a fight, pulling back and even going to the strength to bite one of them. "I have a gun, get off!" She warns them. Biff takes quick note of this and swipes her gun from her belt, so as she is unarmed. In the background River can still here the tormenting conversation between The Doctor and Skye,

"or consciousness or voice, you don't have to steal it." But it's only River who knows. The next stage. Before she can yell and explain what will happen next Biff takes the gun and aims it at her.

"If you move," Biff points the gun to The Doctor, "Then we'll chuck him out to," he warns her. River slams her fist into the soft back seat of a chair, she can't see what's going on, they put her in the corner where she can't see him. She can only hear their conversation,

"That's a promise," they both say at the same time. A single tear drop falls down River's cheek, it sounds so much like his actually saying all those things but his not. The Doctor continues, "So, what do you think?"

"Do we have a-"

"Do we have a-"

"Deal."

"Deal." That's it, it's over River knows. Everybody looks at The Doctor shocked, Dee Dee gasps, her hands covering her face. Dee Dee walks closer,

"Hold on. Did she…" She points a finger at Skye.

"She spoke first," Jethro confirms.

"She can't have," Val doubts, shaking her head. It's not possible, she couldn't have just… Spoke before him.

"She did. She spoke first," Mr Hobbes sets straight, his voice just that tiny pitch higher. River really wants to rush over to the Doctor and just pull him away from that 'beast'. But she knows she can't, if she moves from her position then they'll have no hesitation to chuck The Doctor out with her. Just not being able to see him sets her on fire, the anger and frustration ruling over her body.

"Oh, look at that." River gasped, she was expecting the Doctor to talk, but no, it was Skye. Shivers ran down River's spine, just her voice alone sounded menacing and fake. "I'm ahead of you." And not long after The Doctor repeats her words,

"Oh, look at that. I'm ahead of you." It's switched, the roles, his copying her now. '_What has she done to him?'_ River thinks in her head, what was this compulsion, body switching, and whatever it is it's far beyond what she knows, or even what the Doctor knows. This could get extremely dangerous. Yet, only River recognises it, of course, she has known and lived with The Doctor for literally all her life, that his voice is forced. She can't even see the Doctor's face, but she knows as a _solid fact_ that that is not him saying that.

"Did you see?" Mr Hobbes announces, swiftly moving around the scrapped up chair, still not wanting to get too close. "She spoke before he did, definitely." Jethro moves his face from the iron bar,

"He's copying her," he says, still looking at the pair. River, while the other are too entranced on looking at The Doctor and Skye, moves up from the floor and places her hands on the top of the chair, peering through the crack in between the two chairs. And that's when she can see him. His face is almost too disturbing for her to look at. His eyes had widened and if you looked close enough you would see him trembling, his face showing pain and meaningfulness. His eyes full of emotions, as if her were pleading for help. "Doctor, what's happening?" Mr Hobbes questions, right, like he's in fit shape to answer the question.

"I. Think. It's. Moved," Skye spoke slowly. It was as if she were saying all the words so slow to just aggravate River, and boast over the power it contains.

"I think it's moved," The Doctor repeats in a rushed tone.

"I think it's letting me go," Skye says all innocent like.

"I think it's letting me go." River can't say a word, she tries, she really does, but it's like her throat isn't allowing any words to form from her mouth, while tears are dripping down her cheek and falling to her top. Dee Dee moves forward,

"What do you mean? Letting you go from what?" She asks, her eye brows furrowing. Skye face moves from the side and moves closer to the Doctor, he's just centimetres away.

"Don't you touch him!" River blurts out angrily as she stands up vigorously and yells at the woman. Biff turns around quickly and points a finger at her,

"What did I say-"

"Shut up!" She yells at him, she pushed him out the way and marches to The Doctor and Skye. Skye automatically moves back, as if she knows that she is a possible threat. River moves her hands to cup The Doctor's cheeks,

"Sweetie. Doctor, Doctor!" She says rushed, while threating and looking all over his body to check his not hurt in any way. She looks back up at his face and can't help but splutter… "D-D-Doctor.. If you can hear me," she places her hands in his, "squeeze my hand." River thought she's give it a shot, sure he may not be able to speak or move very far, but maybe he can move even the smallest amounts. But nothing happens.

"He's repeating now. He's the one doing it. It's him." Biff declares, stomping his foot down and pointing his finger at The Doctor. River, in almost a possessive way, moves her body in front of him.

"Over my dead body," she spits out. Her hand squeezing onto The Doctor tweed behind his back. Dee Dee walks in font of Biff,

"Stop it, no one is getting chucked out…Yet," she tells him, going on her tip toes to at least be a good enough height for him not to tower over her. He huffs, but then nods in agreement.

"He's separating," Jethro says under his breath, barely loud enough for anyone to hear. He moves around the ship to get a better look. Mr Hobbes coughs, announcing he is going to speak,

"Mrs Silvestry, is that you?" Mr Hobbes questions with certainty in his tone. River turns around, she had forgotten all about Skye, and then she is met with those blue piercing eyes and devil like smirk.

"Yes. Yes. It's me," she says in almost an enthusiastic way, her voice becoming louder and louder.

"Yes. Yes. It's me," the Doctor repeats her words.

"I'm coming back," she says with a smile. River felt like slapping that smirk off her face right then, but she didn't, because she knew full well that the other's wouldn't trust her then, not that they do know, but they would not trust her at all if she where to hit her. "Listen, it's me!"

"I'm coming back, listen it's me." The Doctor repeats. River turns to look at the Doctor, his face was clearly shaking now; it was scaring the life out of her. She held onto his hand for dear life,

"Sweetie, sweetie. Stop it now, just stop it," she begs in a whisper, gulping back even more tears.

"It's like it's passed into the Doctor. It's transferred." Jethro states, still staying back. "Whatever it is, it's gone inside him."

"No, that's not what happened," Dee Dee disagrees in a calm voice, her eye brows were furrowing and her eyes were slightly squinted, River looked up at them all.

"No, Dee Dee's right that is _not_ what happened," River fights back in an arrogant tone. Behind River, Skye was wiggling her fingers, as if they were something new, and she never came across before.

"But look at her," Val argues, pointing at Skye.

"Yes, but it's all just a big lie. Look at him!" She points to the Doctor, "I've know this man all my life, we've seen things you can't even believe. Seen aliens and creatures that are out of this world and extremely dangerous," she laughs just thinking of the memories, but her tears cause her laughs to be very low and husky. "And this isn't him." She turns around to Skye, who starts moving her hands, "it's her, it's still her!" She literally begs for them to understand, but they're human, of course they won't.

"Look at me, I can move," Skye mutters with a smile, looking at River to just rub this all in. "I can feel again."

"Look at me, I can move, I can feel again," The Doctor repeats.

"I'm coming back to life!" Skye utters cheerily.

"I'm coming back to life," River can't help but bite on her lip while she watches her husband repeat those words like they are forced out of his mouth.

"And look at him, he can't move…" Skye finally says.

"And look at him he can't move," The Doctor whimpers out, his eyes not blinking and his body not moving, just the shaking of his head that would wobble his hair back and forth. Skye looks up at the 'crowd',

"Help me," she begs. "Professor." River looks at her astonishingly, mouth agape.

"Help me. Professor." The Doctor keeps on repeating her words. Mr Hobbes takes in a deep breath, and looks around the room shocked; looking for another man who's a professor, he coughs, pushes up his glasses.

"Get me away from him, please," Skye begs, handing out her hands.

"Get me away from him," the Doctor repeats normally. "please…" And that's what broke River's heart; the way he said please in that sob purely showed he was asking for help off River. Mr Hobbes walks past River in a cautious way, as if she were a grenade. He takes Skye's hands and pulls her up and toward the others.

"Oh, thank you," she says politely, letting him guide her to the other. River gulps,

"Ohh…Thank…You.." The Doctor repeats at a slower pace. And River swears just for that slash of a second she saw him look at her. River knows that the Doctor would rather have the safety of the other before him, but she's not the same. She stays with him, even with his daggering eyes that are just begging her to go help them.

"They've completely separated," Jethro comments, he doesn't feel as threatened with Skye around him anymore.

"It's in him," Jethro states coldly, looking at The Doctor. "Do you see? I said it was him all the time."

"She's free. She's been saved," Val says in a hopeful tone.

"But she hasn't can't you see!" River shouts over her shoulder, but none of them listen, they listen to Skye instead.

"Oh, it was so cold," she explains.

"It was so cold," River looks at him now, this time understanding what she has to do. She kisses him on the cheek and walks over near Dee Dee, nobody even bothered to look at her.

"I couldn't breath," Skye adds on.

"I.. Couldn't..Breath," The Doctor repeats as if he actually was telling them all he couldn't breathe right there. River was taking much effort not to run over to him again and comfort him as much as he can.

"I'm sorry. I must have scared you so much," she grieves, trying to make herself look innocent. Val runs up to her and hugs her tightly,

"No, it's all right. I've got you," she tells her through sobs. "Oh, there you are, my love. It's gone." River grinds her teeth; she should be saying that to the Doctor, not Val to Skye. Especially the words 'my love', that was one of the many catchphrases she uses with him. Dee De must have sensed River anger,

"I wouldn't touch her," she warns Val, taking River hand. River looks down and automatically starts to calm down, The Doctor wouldn't want to see her like this, and she sure as hell isn't going to for _her. _

"But it's gone. She's clean. It passed into him," Biff says aggravated in a low warning voice.

"That's not what happened," both Dee Dee and River say at the same time.

"Thank you, both of you, for your opinions. But they're wrong," Mr Hobbes snaps, looking at them both. "Clearly Mrs Silvestry has been released."

"No!" Dee Dee argues, moving forward eagerly, River keeps her back, for her own safety.

"Just leave her alone," Val threatens, still holding on to Skye. "She's safe, isn't she?" She says, the question hangs in the air, as she looks for a positive answer. "Jethro, it's let her go, hasn't it?" She asks her son, wanting some back up on her opinion. He nods,

"Think so, yeah. Looks like it," he agrees, still he looks unsure. "Professor?" He asks, looking at the man in the corner. He jumps once again, being asked to do all the important stuff looks like he hasn't got used to get.

"I'd say, from observation, the Doctor can't move, and when she was possessed she couldn't move, so…" He explains his opinion.

"Well there we are then," Biff interrupts, not wanting to hear any doubts. "Now the only problem we've got is the Doctor." River takes this time to slowly, without being noticed, walk over to the chair that Biff left on the chair. She picks it up and puts it in her holster, Dee Dee notices, but River puts a finger to her lips, telling her not to say anything, Dee Dee nods in understatement.

**I love reading you're reviews. I think the next chapter will be the last one as well, just so as you know. **


	8. Chapter 8

Everybody turns around to look at the Doctor, still helpless and shaking on the floor.

"It's inside his head," Skye comments with a grin on her face while looking at River, everyone else was to pre occupied- looking at the Doctor and thinking of a plan to get rid of him- to see Skye literally boast about how easily she has the humans wrapped around her fingers. River knuckles tightens as she hears the Doctor repeats her words.

"It's inside his head." It makes it sound as if he's agreeing to his own murder, Skye twisting and turning his words around to make _him_ look like a monster. Skye turns around slowly to look at the Doctor; she casually places her arms around her chest,

"It killed the driver," Skye utters, as if in disgust, just trying to keep her disguise to look as if she is normal.

"It killed the driver," The Doctor repeats. River can't even see his face and she can already picture it, his bottom lip trembling, and all the happiness in his face gone. She can't even look at the back of his head anymore, it was too painful, but she has to stay strong, for _his_ sake. Apparently Skye hadn't stopped talking,

"And the mechanic," it lists the people who have died, as if it's even worthy of speaking of their name's, it disgusts River.

"And the mechanic," the Doctor repeats, his voice crackly this time. It sounded as if he were about to cry, to start rocking back and forth bawling his hearts out… River gulps, her throat quickly becoming dry.

"And now it wants us," Skye threats, trying to sound like a normal scared person. Which, only clear to Dee Dee and River, she is clearly not.

"And now it wants us…" The Doctor finishes.

"I said so," Val whispers in a crisp tone, looking at River with an 'I told you so' look, River furrows her eye brows at her.

"It's been waiting. In the dark. And the cold… And the diamonds," she describes, looking at everyone with certainty in her eyes… "Until you came," she says in an almost cheery voice. "Bodies soooo hot," she purrs off her tongue, "with blood. And pain." She says like she's reading ingredients that make her mouth water. River stomach goes mental, hearing the 'monster' describe its _food_. To make it even worse, the Doctor was repeating all of this, her description, all in a terrifying low husky voice, which he probably had no fault on. It was _her_ controlling him. Like a puppet on strings. But it, whatever you want to call it, is a perfectionist, she doesn't need any strings, she can just use her mind to control him. Val walks forward frustrated,

"God, make him stop. Someone make him stop," Val yells, her head shaking in anger.

"He can't!" River shouts at her, pointing at The Doctor. Dee Dee come and helps,

"It's her who's saying the stuff!" Dee Dee points out, nodding at Skye accusingly.

"And you two can shut up," Val snaps, her head moved towards them in a dart like motion, pinning them down. River's nostrils start flaring, her hands close into fists as she crouches forward, daring her to repeat that once more. Val goes to challenge, but is blocked by Biff. He gives a warning glare to River, but River doesn't care, they could _all_ take her on, right at this second, and she would obliterate them, her anger and shooting skills put together would cause a catastrophe. River acknowledges this; this is precisely what that- whatever was inside Skye- wants, for everyone to turn on each other. So she closes her eyes and tries to calm down.

"I'm just saying, it's not him, it's her," Dee Dee continues to argue anyway, even with Biff's death glare. "He's just repeating."

"But that's what the thing does. It repeats." Biff comments snarly, making Dee Dee sound as if she were stupid.

"Let her talk," the air hostess says quickly, not giving second thoughts about the snarls she was given. Biff turns to looks at her,

"What do you know?" He accuses in a loud voice, "fat lot of good you've been," he yells at her. River steps in to block Biffs view from the air hostess,

"And you would have been any better? What do you expect her to do? Magic up a ship to take us away," River comments sarcastically, making Dee Dee and Professor Hobbes laugh quietly. "You're the one to talk, both of you," River yells, pointing at both Val and Biff, "Out of everyone, you've resulted into violence, you won't let anyway speak, and you both think you're better than anyone else." River finishes off, the couple looks at her flabbergasted, Val's mouth was hanging low, and then there was an awkward silence. The air hostess takes a deep breath,

"Just let the young lady explain," she says calmly, her hand gesturing towards her. Dee Dee nods,

"Well, I think, I mean, from what I've seen, it repeats, then it synchronizes, then it goes in to the next stage and that's exactly what River and the Doctor said would happen," she explains her opinion thoroughly.

"What, and you're on their side?" Biff says in disgust looking at River and then the Doctor.

"There are no sides," Dee Dee replies back shaking her head.

"The voice is the thing," Jethro points out, pointing at the Doctor. Dee Dee shakes her hands in front of his face,

"And _she's_ the voice," Dee Dee enunciates, nodding at Skye, who now, appears to be frowning at them. Like they've found out its plan. "She stole it! Look at her," she commands.

"It's not possessing him, it's draining him," River informs them all, while waving her hands around frantically.

"She's got his voice," the air hostess says in a whisper, Skye automatically snaps her head at her, as if a gun was being pointed at her. _That's it!_ River thinks to herself.

"That's not true 'cause it can't be 'cause I saw it pass into him," Val argues, seriously, when is she going to agree on anything they say. "I saw it with my own eyes."

"Do did I," Biff agrees, probably only because he wants to back up his wife.

"You didn't!" Dee Dee disagrees, her voice clearly showing how annoyed she's getting.

"It went from her to him," Val points to Skye and then The Doctor. She turns to look at Jethro, "you saw it didn't you?"

"I don't know," his voice wasn't even a whisper, it was crackly, and his eyes are red and puffy.

"Oh, don't be stupid, Jethro! Of course you did!" Val snaps. Jethro clenches his jaw, and his face shows agitation,

"I suppose he was right next to her," he replies, in a more clear voice.

"Everyone saw it! Everyone!" Biff declares, turning his face at everyone.

"You're just making it up," Dee Dee argues. "I know what I saw and I saw her stealing his voice."

"She's as bad as her," Val acknowledges. Saying Dee Dee was as bad as River, but they were right, that's the thing. "Someone shut her up," she commands rudely.

"I think you should be quiet, Dee Dee." Mr. Hobbes says as politely as he can. Dee Dee looks taken back by his suggestion, she was only saying her opinion.

"I'm only saying-"

"And that's an order!" He raises he voice as loud as he can, louder than the Doctor before. Dee Dee leans back, just for that split second she looked petrified. River takes her hand. "You're making a fool of yourself, pretending you're an expert in mechanics and hydraulics when I can tell you, you are nothing more than average at best. Now shut up!" He declares, stomping his foot down. River could see the smirk appearing across Skye face again, River takes a deep breath about to say something before Skye interrupts,

"That's how he does it," she says innocently, just standing there as if witnessing victory already.

"That's how he does it," The Doctor repeats.

"He makes you fight," Skye adds,

"He makes you fight," The Doctor continues to copy her.

"Creeps into your head and whispers. Listen. Just listen. That's him. Inside," Skye manipulates, causing Val and Biff to go mental, like she has hypnotized them,

"Throw him out!" Biff yells.

"Get him out of my head!" Val shrieks, her fists shaking in the air.

"We should throw him out!" Biff declares.

"Don't just talk about it. Just… You're useless! Do something!" Val screams at Biff. River thought keeping quiet may be an option, ha, not any more. She dives in front of the Doctor,

"You'd have to get through me first!" River declares, pushing Biff out the way.

"YES!" Skye shouts, "Throw him out!" She yells as Biff moves towards him, battling against River at the same time. "And get rid of her!" She declares. Biff picks up River and pushes her onto the floor and then proceeds to drag the Doctor down to the bottom of the ship,

"No!" Dee Dee yells in protest.

"It's be you next," Val snaps, threatening her not to move. River gets up; even with the horrid pain that now pains her stomach, she gets on one foot, her body struggling to stand up straight. The air hostess runs at Biff,

"I don't think we should do this!" She yells at him. Biff carries on anyway, his half way there,

"It was your idea," he yells back at the air hostess, which isn't really a lie; it was only half an hour ago when she agreed to chuck Skye out. "Professor, help me." Biff command, finding it difficult to move the Doctor on his own. River looks up, her vision wasn't perfect but she could see the Doctor, being dragged down the corridor, he voice just yelling for help. That's all she needs for motivation. She slowly gets up from the ground and tumbles her way to the Doctor, Biff must have easily broken some ribs, she couldn't help but yelp in pain when she moved even the slightest bit. She trudges her way through, with the support of the chairs and Dee Dee to get to The Doctor.

"I can't!" Professor Hobbes protests, his eyes watering.

"What sort of a man are you! C'mon!" Biff yells at him, still pulling the Doctor along.

"Throw him out!" Val encourages, standing there, not even dong anything herself. "Just do it!" Mr. Hobbes must have felt peer pressured as he finally gave in and went to help Biff. River knew she would make it in time, tears were rolling down her eyes like a vigorous waterfall and she was shaking all over. She gulps, she has to think quickly. The gun! She moves her hand towards the holster, she's not killing anyone, that's what she's fighting against, so she turns the gun to stun and takes of the safety lever at the back. Apparently, the Doctor bow tie had been caught in a buckle, meaning that Biff and Mr. Hobbes were wasting time trying to pull him out.

"Pull him for God's sake!" Biff orders, yanking at his collar. Mr. Hobbes grabs his left arms pathetically, "Not like that, you idiot!" Biff yells.

"Chuck him out… Into the sun. And the night." Skye says calmly, while everyone is panicking, she's just there all gleeful and happy. Everyone starts shouting at once,

"Stop it!"

"Yank him properly!"

"Through the back door, go on."

"He's stuck!" All while the Doctor is repeating Skye's words,

"Chuck him out… Into the sun. And the night."

"C'mon. Faster. Faster," Skye encourages. Biff broke the Doctor's bowtie, letting him free.

"C'mon. Faster. Faster." The Doctor repeats as he's being dragged once more. Val see's River aiming the gun at Biff and hits her on the cheek; she snatches the gun from River's hand and pushes her to the floor. River yells in pain as she hits the floor hard, Val smirks,

"I told you to stay out!" She threats, looking down at her. Even Jethro begins to help Biff and the Professor, all three of them together, pushing the Time Lord out into the obliterating sunlight.

"You can do it!" Skye still says encouraging words.

"You can do it!" The Doctor says afterwards.

"Geronimo!" Skye says, mocking the Doctor. The Doctor is pushes and shoved across the floor,

"Geronimo," he repeats, and for River, that's the only time he hasn't said that word with his amazing enthusiasm and smug grin. The air hostess looks at Skye distraught, listening to The Doctor repeats Skye words,

"That's his voice!" She tries to yell, but nobody listens. Dee Dee is in the corner, hands over ears as she cries. "It's taken his voice!" She tries again. Skye still speaks nonsense,

"The bleakness. Outside… The Midnight Sky!" She yells cheerily, waving her arms in the air. River tries to get up again, but falls down immediately after trying. Make that a few broken fingers aswell. She tries again, and quickly grabs for the chair. She pulls herself up, with a lot of effort as she looks over at The Doctor.

"The Midnight Sky," the Doctor repeats, now he is only half a meter away from the door. The air hostess looks at Skye,

"It's her," she acknowledges as she looks at her. Skye looks at her, her huge grin turn immediately. The air hostess knows then. For certain, it's her. She runs to Skye, grabs her around the waist and pushes her to the door.

"She's taken his voice!" She yells as she clicks the orange button, opening the sealed door and letting blinding light strike everyone.

"NO!" River yells as loud as she can, literally running, or jogging in her instance- due to her injury, towards the air hostess.

"One, two, three, four, five, six…" The air hostess counts down to her own death with pride. As soon as she says six her and Skye are pulled out into the outside, like some strong force had pulled her. The Doctor crumples to the floor, panting,

"It's gone. It's gone," he breathes out. "It's gone, it's gone, it's gone," he repeats over and over, desperate for air. He falls on his back. Everybody sits down or leans onto something close to them. Finally letting the past fifteen seconds settle into their minds. Mr. Hobbes bites into his hands, looking as if he is about to cry. Val and Biff huddle together with Jethro as they all cry and weep together. Dee Dee does nothing for a few second, the shock making it impossible for her to move, then she remembers,

"River!" She yells while running back to find her on the floor, blood smears on her cheek and face. Dee Dee furrows her eye brows, "Doctor!" She shouts, turning over River to find blood pouring out her back. He jumps to his feet and dashes to River,

"What-How- River can you hear me?" He asks, observing her pupils to check for any sign of concussion or any signs of unconsciousness. He puts he ear near her mouth. "She's still breathing," he says out loud. By now everyone else had walked around, to make a circle around River. He gets out his sonic and sonic her body, he whizzes the sonic to his face and reads the results. "Two broken ribs, three broken ribs," he moves her to the side, she groans, and then it's a revealed, "and a piercing to the back," he gulps as he sees the deep wound. Jethro grabs a belt from one of the chairs and gives it to the Doctor. He thanks him and places it round her waist, applying pressure to the wound, she should be fine. He lifts her up so as she is sat up next to him, her head leaning on his shoulder. Nobody says anything. There's only thirty five minutes left for the other crusader to come and rescue them.

"I said it was her," Val comments, looking at the Doctor innocently. The Doctor doesn't even say anything, he just looks at her, in disgust, all of them, except Dee Dee and River and the air hostess were going to murder him. They had nothing to say to him. She gulps and lowers her head in shame…

Thirty Minutes Later…

"Repeat, Crusader fifty, rescue vehicle coming alongside in five minutes. Prepare for boarding. Repeat, prepare for boarding." A woman announces on the speakers. River was more conscious now; she hugs tightly to the Doctor, knowing exactly what he's thinking…What everybody's thinking. Dee Dee sits opposite them, just watching them both.

"How's the waist?" She asks politely in a whisper, as the rest of the ship is quiet. River smiles and looks at Dee Dee,

"Never better… You?" River answers. It's true though, being half human half time lord, you heal a lot quicker than normal humans. Dee Dee lowers her eyes and just nods not saying anything.

"You were brilliant…" River whispers to her. She looks at Mr. Hobbes at the other end of the ship, who was looking at their coordinates. "You could do so much better than him y'know," River admits. Dee Dee looks at her strangely. "You could go on your own. Travel the world, the whole universe. You don't need him there to boss you around." Dee Dee nods.

"I'm not as clever as _you_ two though, I'm not clever enough," she confesses, thinking down on herself. "Before I was asked to go with Mr. Hobbes, my auntie invited me to travel with her," she laughs through her nose. "She wants to be a professor." Dee Dee adds as if a professor is a waste of time. The Doctor laughs aswell, seeing the shock appear on River's face.

"Bad move…" The Doctor teases, earning a glare from River. He decided he didn't want to grieve, the air hostess wouldn't want them to be unhappy, he did enough grieving in his tenth incarnation. "So… What's your auntie's name?" The Doctor asks, trying to keep conversation.

"Anita," Dee Dee answers. The Doctor automatically shuts up, the colour on his face drains. It can't be, can it? Not the same Anita that was in The Library, where River… He gulps just thinking about it… Dies… He can definitely see a connection between them if it is true. The Doctor tries to smile,

"I've met an Anita before, lovely woman. Very strong and determined…" The Doctor mutters. Dee Dee smiles,

"Sounds like her…" And then from the next four minutes nothing else is said, everyone just sits there, staring into space, thinking about what has happened the past eight hours…

"The hostess…" The Doctor says out loud grabbing everyone's attention. "What was her name?" He asks. Everybody looks shocked, realizing the painful truth. She dies for them and nobody stopped to think about what her name was. Finally somebody says something,

"I don't know…" It was Mr. Hobbes, his face showed sadness. Everybody stays quiet; nobody knew the hostess's name. But the Doctor will never forget her. She was brave. She was so extremely very brave, and she sacrificed herself when nobody listened to her.

"Sh-She told me she has a daughter…" River mutters, her voice alone showing just how upset she is. "It was her birthday today, she was five… She was meant to be with her today but there weren't enough staff available today, so she had to come in…She-" But River couldn't finish off the sentence, she just couldn't. Instead she just lets the silence take over. The Doctor pulls her in into her laps as she silently cries.

Two minutes later after the rescue….

River and The Doctor walk into the swimming pool room slowly. The Doctor arms around her shoulder as they walked toward Amy and Rory. Amy runs up to River and hugs her tightly,

"Oh my god, what happened, are you alright? You're not hurt are you," she says quickly panicking like a normal mother would. River holds onto her tightly,

"I'm fine, I'm fine, nothing a few days of relaxing won't do," she tries to say in the most optimistic way she can. The Doctor watches them both, still not saying anything; he looks over at Rory, who is looking at him back. Rory nods and awkwardly hugs him to, patting him on the back. It only lasts for a few second.

"C'mon, I don't want to stay here…" The Doctor says, walking back to the TARDIS. Amy, Rory and River follow along. River sees Dee Dee just before she gets in the TARDIS, she waves a piece of paper at her, River laughs. She gave Dee Dee her number just in case she felt like an adventure. In return, Dee Dee gave her her number and also her auntie's, Anita's, because River said she was interested in becoming a professor. River waves and steps in the TARDIS.

A few hours later…. After explaining the story to Rory and Amy…

"So what do you think it was?" Amy asks, cuddling up to Rory, the story had frightened her a lot. The Doctor breathes in,

"No idea…" He replies honestly.

"Do you think it's still out there?" Rory says in a panicking manner. The Doctor doesn't answer.

"I told them before we left everything…" River confirms. "They can build a Leisure Palace somewhere else."

"Yeah… Let that planet keep on turning round an extonic star, in silence," The Doctor adds on. Amy smiles and poked the Doctor,

"Can't imagine you without a voice," Amy admits. The Doctor scoffs,

"Just imagine River without guns then you've got the general idea," he sneakily says as he jumps into the TARDIS chair… He jumps back up. "My bow tie!" He hadn't realized Biff had ripped it off.. Amy and Rory were left laughing while River just kissed him on the cheek,

"Bless…"

**And that's a wrap. Hope you liked my sort-of-twist, if you have any suggestion for any other episodes with River and Eleven, then please, say in a review! Thanks for reading!**


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